Echoes of Evil, Empire of Ooo Pt2
by jomo2014
Summary: Mere weeks after the climactic events of War Drums, Finn the King is faced with a renewed onslaught from the Bandit Princess. The forces of evil are more determined than ever to shatter the Peace of Ooo. Can Finn pull the civilized kingdoms back together before the Bandit Princess unleashes her ultimate weapon? M for Lemons and Language. Adventure Time is owned by P. Ward.
1. Chapter 1

Chapter 1:

Finn the King woke up to the strange admixture of familiar scents and the strange feeling of standing next to a fire in the cool out-of-doors on a winter day. Opening his eyes, he found Simone's big flesh-pillows pressed into his chin. Behind him, he felt rather than saw Phoebe's plump knockers pressed into the back of his head. It had been kind of a crazy night. The two best-friends had jumped him, just like the night after he'd been chosen Warlord of Ooo. Phoebe had jumped him in his office that night, and Simone had happened on the scene while they were going at it and _watched_ the whole thing from outside the room. Simone had gotten hot enough that she'd proceeded to fuck his eyeballs out after Phoebe went back downstairs to the furnace.

The pair of them had ridden him like a horse for more than an hour last night, taking turns like he was a favorite toy. They'd actually _kibitzed_ while they were doing it. It had been raunchy and nasty. Finn had zonked out on them, awakening hours later to the weird feeling of being cold on one side and hot on the other. "Mmm, morning, honey," Simone burbled. The feel of her knobs rising and falling as she breathed gave him an instant boner. "Oooh," Phoebe cooed, as she teased his meat with the tip of her finger. "Somebody woke up refreshed!" Simone tittered at that.

"I'm afraid he's not going to have the time," announced Bonnie. Both women glanced up to find the busy-body standing in the doorway, dressed in full Princess-Regalia. With a groan, Finn extricated himself from the potential pile-on. There was work to be done. Bonnie was right. Much as it might have been tempting to have the two of them fuck him half-to-death again, he just didn't have the time. He'd missed a lot of work while he was tracking the Bandit Princess. Shit was piled up now, and he had to get back to it.

Not merely satisfied with interrupting the looming tryst, Bonnie followed Finn into the bathroom, spouting off a litany of negative news regarding the state of things in the Peanut Kingdom, out on the border with the wild lands, and in the former Wildberry Kingdom. Standing outside the shower, she shared out a ration of negative news about the conditions in the ruins of the Elbow Kingdom. And, of course, she was _still_ irritated with his castle-building exercise out on the coast. It was a boner-killing onslaught that had Finn wanting to crawl _under_ the bed rather than back into it. By the time she got done and left him alone to wash, he felt like a failure more than a King. He just hoped Orzsebet was having more success tracking down the author of a lot of his drama.

Hundreds of miles away, a cabal of humanoids sat in darkness pondering a question of critical importance. The FIRM was teetering on the brink of civil war just now, with several factions arguing over the spy-organization's future. The FIRM had survived the dark times of the apocalypse by banding together in the ruins. The importance of espionage had only increased in a world dominated by nasty little warlords and ugly tyrants. With the great nations of the world gone–blown away by mushroom clouds–the spies had gone to work for _themselves_, selling information to anyone who paid the fee.

Until the rise of the King of Ooo.

Finn the Human had _never_ been a friend of the Hidden Kingdom. He'd thwarted the FIRM on numerous occasions by unmasking their agents and killing their patsies. He'd been a force of chaos far more potent than the FIRM had been. He was, after all, the man with nothing to lose. He was the archetypal grey-man, with no past, no family to ransom, and no wealth to hold hostage.

There had been hope that would change when he was elected King. He had skin in the game now. He had lands to protect and people who could be used as levers against him. Orzsebet had gone to negotiate with him in _person_. Far from _playing the game_ with them, as their leader had suggested, he'd gone for the jugular. Instead of making hay selling critical information to the highest bidder, the FIRM had been _shut out_ of one side and wholly dependent on the side that was violently unstable. It was every variety of _not good_.

Many in the FIRM placed the blame firmly on Orzsebet's slim shoulders. Of course, that was, more or less, the point. The Lord or Lady of Spies was a figurehead–empowered to make critical decisions in the absence of the Committee. Of course, the Committee could easily disavow those decisions and hold their 'leader' responsible for them. More than one Princess of spies had been outed and handed over. A few Princes had been brutally murdered by their own people. The Committee replaced them and moved on. The Lord of Spies was the ultimate patsy–somebody who could be disavowed when the going got really rough.

The trick now was, 'what to do?' They'd thrown in with Wildberry's faction and seen that faction fall completely apart. They'd found themselves thrust into the hands of Finn's faction, but Finn was hardly interested in paying them for their information–certainly not at a price they were happy with. And pretty much no-one was excited about the idea of being shackled to one man's pride.

Just now, even Zeus seemed to be feeling the strain, as he sat there at his table, staring into his glass as if staring at an abyss. As his colleague continued to bleat on about breaking ties with Finn the Human, the nominal leadership figure of the Committee lost his patience. "Get to the point, Damien," growled the irate mutant. The Muscle-Kingdom's top spy glared at his colleague, and he grated, "it's gross disrespect to address me by my name instead of my code-name..." But it said something about the tension in the room. Damien had pushed this. He'd egged them on to arrest Orzsebet. He'd been _tireless_ in promoting the idea.

The man known as Apollo had preached that they could get things back to normal when their Archangel was gone. They could open negotiations for their information with both sides, favoring neither and gaining from both. Damien Vega had promised that everything would be alright. Now, with Orzsebet sitting in a cell, her body wracked with injury from beatings and torture, the members of the Committee were waking up to an unpleasant reality. They still had no leverage on Finn the Human. His edicts regarding his people had made it crystal clear that he was a man willing to commit wholesale murder on those who wronged him. And an unpleasant question had gotten asked by one of Orzsebet's few remaining allies. What if the Agent Princess held the King of Ooo's favor?

Damien had no answer for that. He'd shouted the question down whenever anyone raised it. But the question couldn't get un-asked. Once placed in the minds of the Committee's membership, it had begun to fester like a particularly nasty disease. Doubt had begun to erode their confidence. What if that nasty video wasn't an insult to the Lady of Spies? What if it was a warning? What if Orzsebet truly _was_ the King of Ooo's plaything? What then? If they disposed of her, how would he react? And what other fiendish little toys might he have at his disposal beyond his machine-army?

The gathered spymasters were having trouble deciding on what to do, just now. Damien had been pushing for a vote for _days_. He'd presented the gathering with salacious stories–backed up by more than the usual flimsy evidence. Orzsebet had been a naughty little bitch. She had money squirreled away in secret bank accounts–money that belonged to the FIRM. She had revealed secrets of the organization's inner workings to their enemies. Many of those things _should_ have cost the bitch her head. But there were those dangerous feelings again.

There were rumors that Finn the Human had rounded up the mercenaries who'd assaulted one of his wives and put them to death in a most ugly fashion. Rumors suggested that maybe he'd feted the woman with fine food and drink, while they listened to those men being tortured to death. As with so much that was going on with the so-called Hero of Ooo, those rumors were likely inflated, but that meant there was _truth_ there. And that led right back to the question. Did the King of Ooo find value in Orzsebet? How much? And what did that mean for the Committee?

Rolling a drinking glass back and forth in her hands, Hera declared, "let's lay this thing flat. Let's lay out everything in favor of Orzsebet's death. Lay it out against the risks we face in provoking Finn the Human. That's the only way we're going to settle it. We'll lay out the risks against the reward, and we'll vote. All in favor, say 'aye'."

Meanwhile, the subject of much of the Committee's endless maundering, had launched himself into the business of the day. The leaders of the Turtle Kingdom and Elbow-Kingdom-in-Exile had dropped in on him. The turtles were looking for a similar concession as the one the wood-nymphs had gotten. They wanted a franchise on the antiquities trade, with right of first-refusal over any newly-discovered artifact. The Elbownians wanted the same concessions the Fire-Elementals had gotten. They wanted to resettle their population until their lands recovered. Both requests were world-shaking, leaving Finn feeling like he was on the spot.

He'd been horse-trading with his wife, doing what he could to help her when he offered her a concession on the sex-trade. He'd offered the nymphs something valuable to them that harmed nobody except the criminal underworld. There were no legit whore-houses in Ooo outside the Grey Forest, after all. He thought he'd been on pretty solid ground there, and Cherry had been happy to give up the sex-trade to clear red-ink from her karmic ledger. Telling the treasure-hunters of the world–telling the sleuths and relic-mongers–that they couldn't deal in artifacts was a _big deal_, especially for a man who'd raided his share of forgotten tombs and palaces.

And that didn't even get into resettling all the Elbownians. That was another dangerous risk. Knowing what Flint had tried to pull on the civilized kingdoms, Finn expected that there would be little appetite for accepting another migrant population. He risked damaging the fragile peace, and he wasn't entirely sure what to do to fix things. They'd kept the pressure on him, and Bonnie had gleefully piled on because she'd never really liked the relic-hunters and dungeon-crawlers. They were agents of chaos who often wrecked ancient sites that she could have exploited to expand her knowledge of science.

Finn had put them off. He'd put them off in favor of digging into the _other_ problems he was facing, promising to return with an answer in the afternoon. Then he'd retired to his office to do anything _but_ think about the problems they'd brought him. He had some ideas and things he had been pondering during the endless chase in the east, and he wanted to get them down on paper while they were fresh in his mind. Summoning his _secretary_ the King of Ooo did his best to push his worries aside and focus on what he felt had to get done.

Unfortunately, quiet was a thing Finn would find to be in short supply today. Breakfast was seated on Finn's lap, taking notes, when a breathless Lollipop rushed into the room an hour past lunch. The King of Ooo had been in the middle of dictating a letter to Tequilla Princess, touting the advantages of formally joining his coalition. He was _committed_ to peace through formation of a world-spanning government to mediate problems. It was an astonishing development for a man who'd been dismissed as a buffoon most of his life. Bonnie had been far too busy pursuing her experiments and hobbies to bother once she had her immediate surroundings secure. Breakfast was at once shocked, proud, and a little embarrassed. In the face of all that, she felt inadequate as wife of a king. Simone made a far better wife for a king than she did.

"Hey, babe," Finn greeted the sexy treat as she caught her breath. "Delegation," she huffed. "Muscle Kingdom... *_puff_* want to talk... *_puff_* Billy..." Finn felt a chill. His son had lost his temper with Nieve. He'd sanctioned her for what she'd been doing. Finn had feared a negative reaction. Apparently the reaction had finally arrived. Nudging Beeps off his lap, the King told his wife, "get the cabinet together. Everybody who's here." Rising, he told his secretary, "need you to sit in on the meeting. Take notes. I'm gonna' need them later." "Yes, darling," she murmured.

An hour later, the King of Ooo sat himself in Bonnie's audience chamber. The whole of the cabinet was gathered around him. Also in attendance were the Turtle Prince and the Leader-in-Exile of the Elbownians. With a nod, he directed Peppermint Butler to lead his visitors in. The candy person turned and tugged the doors open, ushering a half-dozen members of Muscle-Kingdom royalty, including a rather somber Princess Nieve. Wearing a demur blue dress and a veil, the young woman looked the picture of an aggrieved girl. Finn sat up straighter. This was going to get interesting fast.

Far from stepping forward to harangue him, Nieve actually stood to one side. Instead, an older woman stepped forward in her place. Though clearly older, she was thin and shockingly fit. Finn could see the family resemblance, as the older woman dropped a curtsy. This was Nieve's grammy, and Finn felt embarrassed again–like his kid had beat up her kid at school. His eyes flicked to Nieve to find her staring at the floor. The older woman quickly drew his attention back to her, declaring, "I am Odessa, Princess Dowager of Muscle Kingdom. I am come before the Crown of Ooo to offer a proposal..."

It was hardly what the King expected. In the breach where Finn struggled with a response, Bonnie, who'd been irritated with Billy for essentially beating Nieve's ass like a naughty child, responded, "the King will hear your proposal..." Nodding graciously, Odessa responded, "there has been much recent unpleasantness between our Royal Clans. These disagreements have been as much about Royal Pride as real reason. In hope of future peace, I hereby propose alliance by marriage between my granddaughter and the King of Ooo's firstborn heir."

Finn was stunned.

For the first time in more than a decade, Bonnie found her Champion flabbergasted. He sat there staring as if he couldn't have heard that. He was in shock, but she could tell that the uncomfortable silence was starting to irritate the Princess Dowager of the Muscle Kingdom. Nieve's grandmother was reaching out a hand in peace, but that could quickly get converted to something else. Rising, Bonnie said, "we're flattered by Your Highness's offer. Rest assured we will consider this most gracious suggestion with gravity and sincerity. Expect His Majesty's answer in one week."

Recovering from the uncomfortable silence, Odessa bowed to Finn. Graciously, she said, "I believe you will find our offer most satisfying, Your Majesty. I look forward to receiving your envoy." Bowing again, she turned and motioned for her entourage to go. Now, as he watched the young Princess leave, Finn was struck by the sudden realization. Nieve wasn't _angry_. She was _scared_. She was being _sold_ to buy peace. That brought a whole new level of discomfort. He didn't want this to be how his family did business. He didn't like this at all.

At the same time, he couldn't afford to insult Nieve's family either. This had been a shocking twist to an ugly sequence of events. He'd backed Billy, when Bonnie had been on a tear about _improper behavior_. He _still_ backed Billy. Hadn't he done the exact same thing to Aysun? Twice. At the same time, that could have blown back on him, and this could have easily blown up in Billy's face. They needed to get ahead of this. He needed to find a pleasant way of weaseling out of this mess. "Family conference...," Finn announced. Beeps, Bonnie, and Betty were all good at coming up with clever ways to politely tell people to fuck off. He'd need all their skill this time.

"With all due respect, Your Majesty," Prince Gaotbert announced, "this is no longer just a family matter." Finn's head snapped around to the Turtle Prince. Smoothly Colbert the Elbownian agreed, "this is a matter for the entirety of the kingdoms of Ooo." Uneasily, Finn stopped right where he was. He wasn't sure where they were going with this. He'd really hoped to just get his family into their private space and talk through how they were going to respond to this. That looked like it was about to be taken off the table. Taking his hand, Simone pulled him down into his seat. Her cool fingers against his seemed to say that this was not the time. Reluctantly, Finn agreed to hear what their visitors had to say.

Prince Gaotbert began it, declaring, "this is an opportunity to strengthen the Peace of Ooo. Ordinarily, I would count it unseemly for a man to be married to more than one woman. However, the King of Ooo has managed this circumstance ably, managing to secure peaceful and harmonious cooperation among many of these several kingdoms. I have no doubt that Prince William would do as well..." Finn flushed to his hair at that backhanded compliment. He'd been struggling to get _himself_ comfortable with the crazy situation he was in. Getting reminded of it did little for his sanity at the moment. While he seethed with shame and humiliation, Simone's fingers stroked his gently, urging calm without a word being spoken.

Bonnie rose again then, offering, "it is as you say. Our kingdoms have come to a new harmony through this network of marriage alliances. I have no doubt that William might yet bring about more tranquil relations with the Muscle Kingdom..." There was a 'but' in there, and Finn himself could feel it coming. Softly, Bonnie said, "each man has to look to his own conscience. While the Inner Council could certainly make it a _decree_ that William marry, it stands against common morality..." Finn flinched at that. Simone's fingers squeezed his, and he could almost hear her urging him to wait. They were just letting the Turtles and Elbownians have their say.

Colbert stepped forward then. Gesturing with both his hands and his hair, the Elbownian opined, "there has been too much feuding amongst royal clans. We've seen whole kingdoms, including my homeland, decimated and even denuded of life. Our fragile world is at risk of starvation. This has to be stopped, Your Highness. The King of Ooo has, right this moment, the power and the opportunity both to stop it with nothing more than a simply worded decree. You have a moral obligation to do just that."

How do you make an almost all-powerful monarch squirm?

Finn was starting to see what he'd taken a long time to understand. No matter how infinite power seemed, it was always and easily checked by the clay-feet of the man or woman wielding it. He was in a trick-bag, and he knew it. They were right. He _knew_ they were right. More to the point, he suspected that Odessa knew it too. She'd proposed this. Instead of coming to her granddaughter's aid, she'd offered her up to be married against her will to buy off a peace after her homeland got stomped in a war.

Motioning for Bonnie to sit, Finn stood up and thanked his guests for their words. "You're right," he said. "I can't consider this in a vacuum. At the same time, family's sacred to me. Before I commit to this, my family needs to discuss this. Privately. Thank-you for your time and your words." Without a second glance, he turned and headed for the door to the private wing of the palace. As Bonnie thanked Prince Gaotbert and Colbert, Simone gathered up the members of the Royal Family, leading them out through the door Finn had just taken.

Minutes later, Bonnie strode into the private dining room to find her fellows gathered either virtually or in person. Striding towards the table, she lay Odessa's offer on the table. "One of her aides gave that to me after you left," she said. Finn nodded, but he let the document with its elegant wax seal and calligraphy lay where she'd put it. He didn't need to read it. This wasn't about money or trade concessions. This was his son.

"Ok," Finn said. "How are we going to weasel out of this...?" Bonnie replied, "on the contrary, Finn, we should agree to this arrangement." In her usual stentorian tone, the candy monarch laid out all the benefits they would gain from such an agreement. Finn looked at her as if she was crazy. Before he could snap, Ingrid put her oar in the water, reminding him that the Muscle Kingdom had reserves of manpower to build up the army. Indeed, Finn found himself nearly alone with only Lollipop on his side of the table.

Rising from his place, the big man began to pace. The room held its breath, as he walked off _manic_ energy. Up and back, he went. "I don't understand," Finn murmured. "Why would you do this to Rags...?" Ragnhild flushed. That was how he saw it. They were hurting her. She was getting the shaft. And wasn't she? It was hard _not_ to feel that way. At the same time, she was a Princess, born to rule a kingdom. This came with the territory.

Taking a breath, Betty said, "centuries before the Mushroom War there was a family called the Habsburgs... They had a _lot_ of sons and daughters..." With a smirk, she added, "kind of like you..." The big man flushed to his hair, but he said nothing. He was listening. Moving on, Betty explained, "they married those kids off–sons and daughters–to every other Royal Clan in their world. Pretty soon every Royal was a cousin, brother, or sister of every other. It wasn't always good for the kids, but it brought _peace_. People were hesitant to move on their own relatives..." Clearly disturbed, Finn turned and walked to the sliding glass door that let out on the garden. He knew exactly what she was saying, but somehow those ideas just made all of this harder to swallow.

"Finn," sighed Bonnie, "the world's messed up. Ooo's... Ooo's _wrecked_. The world that we knew is gone. Between the Lich, the Dipped, and Wildberry, it's been shattered beyond repair. We need to consider radical measures if we want to rebuild something from the ashes..." Finn flushed. Radical measures. They were asking Bill–and Ragnhild–to accept a shotgun-marriage to Nieve. "She's a treacherous witch," Noemi opined, "but I'm used to dealing with treachery." She had been gaming other women since before Nieve was a gleam in her daddy's eye. Abeiuwa snorted in derision. It was clear that she would gleefully have beaten the younger woman for getting out of pocket. All eyes turned to Ragnhild. She looked to Finn, who flinched. Calmly, she said, "I'll be a good steward of William's home as Simone was steward of his father's home."

Glancing away, Finn said, "I'm not going to ask Bill to do this. I won't stand in the way, but I can't ask that." "I can," Ragnhild murmured. Finn's face whipped around. With a dazzling smile, the Froyo Princess said, "I came into this as a child. I was a middle-aged woman-baby playing around when the world was on the brink. Bill helped me grow up. I need to accept this, Finn. I can watch the world tear itself apart, or I can throw down like my husband. I'm in it to win it." The decision got made just like that. One by one, the ladies came up and hugged him. He wasn't sure if it was meant to comfort him or reassure him somehow. Then they left him there in the dining room–all but Betty.

"You're angry," she said. She could see the tension. He didn't like this. He didn't like asking this of his kids. She could see where his mind was going. How far did they take this? Where did it end? If they asked this of Bill, what about Bon and Star and Shoko and Fionna? What about _Marshall_? And what about all the rest of his kids? Was he to marry them off against their wills? Striding up to him, the plump woman put a hand on his shoulder. Softly, she reminded him, "you're King, Finn." Which he well knew. That certain and unpleasant knowledge guided his every action.

Shaking her head, she said, "honey, it's more even than _you're_ thinking. You're thinking that you're the man that keeps the peace. You're the man that keeps all these idiots from being at each other's throats. It's more than that, baby. You're not just the man who keeps the peace, you're also the glue that holds this whole thing together."

The big man stared at her. Nodding, she said, "the Royal Family is the family that all the lords and their ladies owe their loyalty to. They've _seen_ you in the worst of things, up to your armpits in the blood and ruin. They have _trust_ in you. They follow where you lead because you're the man who continues to work to keep the peace. Now that means _we_ have to play our part too. What we do matters just as much as what you do." His face flushed as he took in the enormity of what she was saying. Nodding, she said, "I kind of made my peace with it... I... don't know how all the others sit. Simone understands it. Cherry accepts it. This is how our world is going to be." He wasn't sure he was ready to accept it himself.

This was heavy, heavy stuff, and the big man sat himself down at the table in a rush. He looked lost. He was losing a piece of his world too. It had always been one man and his woman for Finn. Emeraude was a bittersweet accident. Sliding her arms around his broad shoulders, Betty murmured, "and this is why we love you, honey. This isn't you being a shit. It's the consequences of carrying the world on our collective backs. We'll work through this, however it turns out." Straightening, the plump woman strode out. At the door, she stood there a moment, reveling in the way his eyes had been following her ass, showing that he still thought her beautiful. With a smirk, she winked at him, and just before she shut the door, the told him, "I guess it's good that you have the hormones of a teenager again..." The big man flushed. If this went to the conclusion she'd just drawn, he'd need them.

He sat there a while, staring into space as his mind went in slow circles. He didn't want to do this. He felt like he was being overwhelmed and outvoted, and he didn't want anything to do with this. He wanted to tell Odessa to shove her offer up her ass. He wanted to tell the turtles and the Elbownians to go fuck themselves. And he knew they were all right. He was counting on the fields in Muscle Kingdom to come back and put food on the tables of all the local kingdoms. He was holding his own with Sarah's food formulas and the kelp Crab Princess was scaring up. Holding his own wasn't going to be good enough much longer.

Rising, he decided to clear his head. He found himself wandering the halls of the palace barely seeing and certainly not acknowledging anybody he encountered. Honestly, he would have been hard pressed to tell you who he met that afternoon. He'd gone from working on a simple letter to a friend to a plunge deep, _deep_ down the rabbit-hole. And where was it going to end? The girls saw this as just patching a hole, but he already saw this going off the rails and fast. What if somebody asked to marry Fionna? Fionna was the last human girl–at least she had been. There were dudes who found her uniqueness exciting. He couldn't do that to her or Patrick! What if somebody wanted to marry their daughters! He could find himself promising his grandkids before one of them was even born!

Before he knew it, his steps had carried him clean across the castle and straight to his _other_ worry. He was in the dungeon. He was in the VIP dungeon high in a corner of the palace. That brought back unpleasant memories. They'd retrieved Maja's _body_. They'd brought her back _here_ to die in this place. She still hadn't awakened, and Finn had more or less resigned himself to the idea she never would. She wasn't on the machines. He'd refused to put her back on the machines. He was expecting that, absent some miracle, she'd simply fade away.

Impulsively, he put his hand on the new lock, letting himself into the dungeon. Passing the cages of his very-important prisoners, Finn the Human came at last to the place where his lost lady spent her days. He'd been dreading coming back here. He'd feared what he would find. Drew had kept him apprised of Maja's condition over the last few weeks, but Finn had found himself struck with one thing. Karma. Karma was eating him alive. He'd been thankful that Chiang had been born with all his fingers and toes. He'd been happy that the little guy seemed to be alright. At the same time, it seemed very much like Glob was taking Maja in exchange, and that made him sad.

Striding up to the door, Finn carefully unlocked the door and stepped inside, prepared to find Maja gone. He hoped to find her still here asleep, but he feared he'd find her dead, leaving him to raise Chiang alone. He was completely unprepared to find Maja standing there in one of her old dresses, back to the door. At first, he thought he was dreaming, and he actually pinched himself to be sure. Then, as he shut the door, she turned to face him, and her eyes were wary, seeming to look _through_ him. It was a very different Maja than the one he'd become used to. She didn't rush to get a hug. She didn't greet him. But her eyes burned into his the way they had the night he'd first met her in Engagement Ring Kingdom.

"I'm glad you're awake," he offered. "We were beginning to worry." Maja frowned at him–at those words. She hadn't frowned really since she'd tried to poison herself. Something was definitely different here. Finn stepped forward, testing the waters. Maja stepped back a pace, putting space between them. "I see," he said. Then, "do you talk?" Her face went hot, and she curtly replied, "yes. What do you want me to say?" "'Hello', for a start," Finn replied. "Maybe 'I'm fine.' Depending on how you're feeling." Her blush deepened.

Reaching out, he took her face in his hands. "Keep your hands," she snapped, as she pushed him away. Finn didn't mind that at all. Indeed, he dragged her into his arms and tried to crush her. Shoving him away, she demanded, "why did you save me?!" Stepping forward, he said, "I feared I didn't. I thought you were gone. That... we only had a ghost of you left..." The facade cracked, and she glanced away, face gone bleak. "You shouldn't have saved me," she said. "The world was back in balance. I only bring trouble... I'm only good at hurting things." "You brought a child into the world," he said. "There's that..."

Her face went red hot. She'd thought that was a dream. "We named him Chiang," said Finn. Maja flushed. That was her boyfriend from lifetimes ago. He'd been dead centuries. Surprising her, the big man jerked her into his arms, pressed his rough lips to hers and gave her a scorcher of a kiss. Maja came close to melting. Her hand came up as if to push him away but only ended up pawing at his chest. When he finally let her come up for air, she immediately pushed off from him. "You remember," he murmured. "You're still not worth the world, Finn," she retorted. "If that mattered, you wouldn't still be here," he said, as he stepped back into her space.

Her face went hot, and she backed away again, but Finn had anticipated that. The big man grabbed her by the shoulder and spun her around, sliding his arms about her. "W-why," she whined? "I promised that I would keep you in a safe place... that you'd not suffer," he whispered. "I promised that if you helped me save the world, you'd not be harmed in your turn. No-one can make me break that promise. You kept your word. I'll keep mine until I'm no longer around to keep it." "I know," Maja sobbed. "Don't you understand, you damned fool. That's why I did it. They'll take you from me. They'll take you like they took him." Letting her go, Finn chuckled, "I'm kinda' hard to kill, M. Remember?"

Turning around, she slapped him. Rubbing at his face, he said, "that's kind of a harsh reply." "It's a reminder that you're mortal, Finn the Human," she rumbled. The big man laughed. Brushing away the tears from her face, he said, "I'm'a send Drew up to look at you." When she glared at him, he tugged on her chin, saying, "it's not every day you come back from the dead, M. Let's get you looked at." His tone suggested that this was not a negotiation. Smiling, softly, he said, "even the King has to obey when the doctor demands it. Go along to get along, M." "Right," she muttered. "Didn't you swear not to give me orders?" "You're part of this family now, M," he replied. Her mouth came open.

Sitting down on the edge of her rough bed, he asked, "wanna' play?" He meant the Card Wars mat on the table. Flushing–she vaguely remembered playing the game rather a _lot_ these last months–she said, "later. I've played it enough I think..." "Chess," he asked? "Why did you come," she demanded? "I come a lot," he replied. "To talk to you." The witch flushed once more. As he explained how he used her as a sounding board–because she was the most deadly-devious person he knew–her blush only deepened.

"Alright," she muttered. "What do you want to know?" "If I'm an idiot," he replied. Which was foolish on its face. He was a genius. As far as she could tell, he always had been. If not for his handicap, he could have conquered Ooo decades ago. "Yeah," he said. "Nadia kinda' fixed that..." Rolling her eyes, the witch retorted, "not that handicap, do-gooder. It's your overweening sense of morality that I'm talking about." That made him laugh. Grabbing her by the wrist, he pulled the witch onto his lap.

"Your morality is in the way of something," she murmured as his breath stirred her hair. "I can sense it." "I received an offer today," he replied. "The Muscle Kingdom wants Billy to marry their princess?" She laughed as she imagined that handsome young man marrying that fat oaf. "Not Yolanda," Finn replied. "She's in a cell down the hall. Her niece is on the throne. They want Billy to marry her..." Haltingly at first, then a little more smoothly as he got over the emotions of the moment, he told his strange wife about the Dowager Princess and her offer. "They want an alliance," Maja retorted, as she turned to study him. Her brown eyes burned into his. Reaching out to stroke his battered face, she said, "have you come to enjoy wars, Finn?" He glanced away–or tried to. Maja tugged on his ear as if he was a recalcitrant boy. "You came for advice, Finn," she growled, "or did you come to waste my time?" "Let me have it," he sighed.

"Your son is no longer your son," she said. "He's a soldier and an asset of your throne. Your daughters and sons are key members of your regime and assets in their own right. You have one son holding down your flank in the Engagement Ring Kingdom under a veneer of neutrality. That's good strategy. Your second son is holding your most important territory and keeping it running, freeing your vizier to do her job. Your daughters were squandered in marriages based on emotion, but you still have William. William can still marry for advantage. Let William go, Finn. He needs to put in work. This can't be about love anymore for you." He flinched. Hadn't she said it before? Business. This was business.

The big man took a deep breath, and she could sense the change in him. "I need something from you," he murmured. "I'm guessing you don't want to smash me," she retorted. The King flushed to his hair. Brushing her cheek, he said, "yeah, I do. It was kinda' creepy when you were a kid in a woman's body, because I wanted to bang you like a drum." That left her blushing and sputtering. Pulling her close to him, he said, "I need something... I need your expertise in magic, M..." He wanted her to do something for him. With a sigh, she said, "I'm part of the family. I need to put in work to earn my keep." "Thanks, M," he said. No more than that.

Kissing his cheek, she said, "alright. Where am I working?" "I had plans for a laboratory," he sighed, "but I was afraid you wouldn't be around to use it..." His plans had gotten shelved for other problems. "I just need a space to work," she said. "Doesn't need to be fancy." "I'll have something put together tomorrow," he promised. The tone of his voice told her he had to go. A part of her felt a sudden pang of longing. She'd been here with him all this time and yet living in a dreamworld, and she'd _missed_ this. Without a word, she stood up and stepped back from him. This was what they had now–the King and his favorite prisoner. "I'll see you tomorrow," he said. "I'll bring Chiang." "No," she said. "You'll go and work a deal with this Dowager. Business first, Finn. I would have accepted no less in my empire." And she had an appointment with the doctor before she could get to work on his project anyway. "Right," he muttered. With one last kiss, he left her, bound for supper with the others.

**Annnnd Maja's back. And Finn is still up to something. And, of course, Damien is finding out just how hard it is to eliminate a member of the Finn Crew.**


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2:

"I didn't want this for my son," Finn murmured.

Doctor Brulee's expression never wavered from his usual serenity. He might have been a statue if not for the fact that he was taking notes on what his famous patient told him. "Why does this bother you," the doctor asked? "You lead a life that most men would envy. You sleep with over a dozen beautiful women. You have unmatched power. You have a name famous across the world. Why would you wish for your son to live in obscurity?" Calmly, Finn replied, "fame is a curse, when envy is in men's hearts, and the world sees you not as the man you are but as a wallet with legs." All he'd ever wanted for his children was for them to be happy. He'd never seen happiness come out of money or power.

"You're a wise man, if you can see the problems with your situation," the doctor opined. "Not many men would see wealth and power as something to avoid. For the rest, I believe your companion is right. I think you're having trouble learning to accept that your life has changed. Perhaps you should start seeing the other aspects of your life in a more positive light." Finn nodded. It appeared they were done for the day.

The King of Ooo climbed to his feet. He wasn't really sure if he was getting anything out of this. Drew was pretty insistent that he continue, but he was starting to wonder if this wasn't a big waste of time. Mostly he was going along to get along. He knew it was helping Hurletta. She was coming to accept the way things were, when she'd struggled with everything from her new body to the brutal assault she'd been subjected to. She was becoming better even than she had been, showing a willingness to work that had been alien to her in the past. Honestly, he liked the new Hurletta better than the old.

Striding across the doctor's office, Finn opened the door and stepped into the hall, his mind going in a dozen different directions at once. That was becoming a common-place now. There was sooo much going on in his life, he found himself struggling to keep track of all the threads. He was having trouble of his own. He was having trouble letting go and trusting other people to handle things that needed to get done. Bonnie's carping about his new castle and the other decisions he'd made wasn't helping that very much, as in at all.

"Finn," Hurletta greeted him?

The King glanced up into the Princess's eyes, and he found his breath catching. He was having a little trouble getting used to the _new_ Hurletta too. She was as tall as he was now, and she was built with broad hips, a big, round ass, heavy knockers, and long, thick legs. Just now she'd come out of her doctor's office wearing a severe, grey dress that was designed to conceal her heavy knobs and translucent greenish skin. That was a symptom of the awkwardness she was dealing with.

'Letta had gone from being a squishy blob to a sexy humanoid shape that got her attention literally everywhere she went in the Candy Kingdom and beyond. After what Blargetha's thugs had done to her, she was having trouble with the staring, and on Finn's side, he was doing all he could to help her with that. Of course, if she was having trouble with the 'new' Hurletta, he was just as conflicted because, honestly, he would have _done_ 'Letta. From being a little grossed out by her body and habits, he'd come to a point where he would have screwed the shit out of her, just for the experience.

At the same time, 'Letta was a bit of a mess, and he was worried about her and terrified of hurting her–of making things worse. There was still something there. She was still _into_ him. She made little secret of that, never missing a chance to touch him or to be close to him. She loved these joint visits to the therapist's office because they got to bond. It was something _personal_ instead of the impersonal of the King and his Treasurer.

"Hey," he responded. "How was it?" Taking his hand, Hurletta stepped off, announcing, "had a little bit of a breakthrough..." "Oh," he replied? Smiling, she said, "I found out today that maybe being bad at my job doesn't justify having my sister's dogs pile on me." Finn gave her hand a squeeze. Staring straight ahead, she admitted, "I've... been having a lot of trouble with that." He'd been saying the same thing almost since he'd gotten her back. They'd all been trying to tell her that. He was glad she'd come to the realization that beating _herself_ wasn't going to change anything.

With a humorless chuckle, the princess opined, "I also realized that having a little fun isn't awful..." Stopping in the hallway, she turned to look up at him and said, "as long as I get my work done." She gave him a bright smile, aided by the teeth that she now sported. "I've got a proposal," she said. "I'm listening," he replied. Nodding in acknowledgment of that, the plush princess said, "I've... kind of been grinding for a fair bit now. My boss is kind of a slave-driver." Finn flushed. He'd been pushing her to get the Bank of Ooo working properly, among other things. When it wasn't the bank, it was the business of putting together an expedition to put the Peanuts in their place, and she was just getting started on _fixing_ the emerald mines.

Reaching up, the princess stroked his face, examining the grey hairs of his beard. "My King needs a break," she said. "Why don't we go dancing...? We haven't danced in ages, Finn." He knew he shouldn't. There was still a lot going on, and he still had the Bandit Princess floating around out there... _somewhere_. At the same time, he owed 'Letta. "Ok," he said. Straightening his tie, she said, "seven-sharp. Right after dinner." After dinner was usually when he played with the kids. He thought he could make an exception tonight. He owed 'Letta quite a bit.

Arriving out front, the duo separated, with 'Letta strolling over to the car that would take her back to her hotel. Spacing out a moment, he stood there watching the plush-princess as she crossed the courtyard. Finn had business at the army headquarters. He had some decisions to make. None of them were pleasant decisions, and the options he had were varying degrees of bad. It helped not at all that the person who might be called upon to risk her neck in all of this was knocked-up high as a kite and really needed to be at home. He only realized he'd been watching Hurletta's gently swaying ass when she glanced back at him. Blushing to his hair, the big man waved, as her bodyguard tucked her away in the car before jumping in the passenger seat.

Elsewhere, the twin sources of much of his current angst were at each other's throats as a result of the fallout from business in the Emerald Kingdom. For the Bandit Princess, the whole episode had been nothing short of disastrous. She'd lost everything. She'd lost one of her lairs. She'd lost many of her henchmen. She'd even lost her brother. And what did she have to show for it? On her side, the Wax-Hustler knew she was close to the limit with her _partner_. It was one of the reasons she'd chosen to _disappear_ for a bit.

She'd been so _certain_. She'd had everything lined up. She'd had no idea that fucking Finn the Human would come into the picture like that. As far as she'd known, he'd been on the far side of the world–closer to Peihong than to her. More to the point, with Peihong's fiendish henchman there, she'd felt like there was no way they could lose. She would never have guessed that the half-demon's powers would fail so disastrously against Finn.

They were, collectively, back where they started. Almost they were. "I'm more vulnerable than you," muttered the wax-person. "That bitch saw my face!" The ogress shot back, "it's not like she's going to be around to ID you. She's a _prisoner_, Chelse. I'd expect her sister to _demand_ she lose her head now. I burned half a dozen assets snatching her..." Rolling her eyes, Chelsea replied, "I have her notes and drawings, Peihong. We can at least halfway build the rockets..." "...with nothing to put on the end," growled the ogress! "You owe me those books..." That set the pair to bickering again, snapping at each other.

"It's not like I didn't take a hit too," Chelsea shouted! "I lost my top dude. I lost two dozen soldiers, and I still have that bitch out there able to finger me. Say he _doesn't_ kill her... Then what?" "Then you better be careful," Peihong retorted. The Wax-Hustler inhaled deeply, sounding for a moment as if she'd get to threats, but somehow she kept her cool. "We have the rockets," she reminded her partner. "Maybe not as long-range as the ones we wanted, but that fucking thing went a couple-hundred miles. That gives us lots of empty space to hide one. We need a weapon. Something small and portable. That was _your_ piece, remember?"

With a heavy sigh, the ogress burbled, "there's possibly another weapon in Baba Yaga's domain. The Lich was hunting for it. That's our fallback if we can't get the death-metal and we fail at getting the Black Scrawl virus. You need to focus on getting the books we need. I'll work on getting us somebody else to build us a bomb." They were making progress. In spite of the disastrous failure, they were _still_ making progress. "Lay low," the ogress advised. "Get me those books..."

It was clear from her tone that Peihong was at the end of her patience. Chelsea well knew she'd fucked up in Emerald Kingdom. She'd been angling for the quick score–killing Finn's kid. She'd cost them their influence in the Emerald Kingdom and lost Blargetha and Maja too, to say nothing of costing the ogress her greatest asset. "Ok," she muttered. "Turtle Kingdom..." The wax-woman swore she would focus on stealing the antiquities they needed to find knowledge of the mushroom bombs, promising to redouble her efforts, but the ogress knew she was lieing. It was getting to be time to shed the insane little bitch.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, Finn the King came walking up the stairs of Bonnie's Botanical Garden. There was already a row of vehicles parked out front in what had been the parking lot for visitors. It was another source of friction with Bonnie. The Candy Monarch was irritated that her people no longer got to visit the gardens because Billy's family was staying there. It was one of those idiotic dichotomies that made him want to wring her neck sometimes. She was constantly bitching that he ought not to spend money on a castle of his own in the west. At the same time, she was constantly whining and griping about sharing _her_ castle with the other members of their extended family. Like everything else with Bonnie, she couldn't fucking make up her mind, and it was driving him to distraction.

And Finn? What was he going to do? Tell Abeiuwa to go live in a hotel? He was delighted to have her back to normal and contributing to their shared world in a healthy, _productive_ manner. The idea that he would actually get some troops to help with their problems–taking the load off Ingrid and Hurletta–was the best news he'd heard in a long, long while. He'd had to force himself not to start bugging Nadia about getting the Tesla machine built faster. Now his wife wanted to throw Abeiuwa out of the gardens at the risk of offending her. Finn thought Bonnie missed the point. Her peeps had paid for the gardens, sure enough, but they had far more to do trying to piece their lives back together than to go rioting over a bunch of trees and flowers.

The Muscle Guard had a small presence here at the entry, confirming what Finn had guessed from the cars out front. Odessa was here. He'd invited her here to meet with him. He was selling his son. He was selling his kid, and it hurt about as much as if you'd asked him to sell Fionna or Star or even Marshall. His mind went back to Maja's words. Maja, who'd been surviving–and _thriving_–in the face of very powerful people who wanted her dead, had been doing this dick-dance with princesses for literal centuries. _Business, Finn,_ he reminded himself. He could lose his soul in his business. That was something he'd have to remember.

The Dowager Princess was waiting on him in the Great Atrium of the Conservatory, standing among the hot-house flowers there, taking in the scents. His mind went to Sarah, who'd whiled away her time here creating new flowers. She'd made a stink-weed plant so nasty, even _she_ couldn't handle the smell. It was a funny memory from a time that seemed forever ago. Today the space was full of people, soldiers and functionaries all.

"Greetings, King of Ooo," said Odessa, as she rose and offered him a bow. Finn greeted her with a nod and a soft, "Your Highness." As he approached, Ragnhild, Abeiuwa, and Noemi stepped out of the alcove on his right, striding down the aisle. Odessa's face whipped around. It was clear from her expression that this wasn't something she'd anticipated when he'd sent word asking her to meet him. "Princess Ragnhild is both Privy Secretary. Princess Abeiuwa has been recently made responsible for production of weaponry and guards my southern border. Princess Noemi guards our eastern border with the wild-lands. I think it essential, given their positions in the government and their marriages to William, that they be involved in this decision, as this will greatly matter to their lives."

Odessa's face was unreadable. Still, when he offered her a seat at the table that had been placed there, she didn't balk. Instead, she sat herself. Moving to the far end of the table, Finn drew chairs for Billy's wives before seating himself. He'd been very careful to leave a fourth chair there, and he couldn't help noticing that Odessa noticed. Her face flushed, and her mouth opened to comment. And then she shut her mouth and glanced to his face. Finn could almost hear the gears turning.

It was flattery.

He had power and wealth to offer her family. Ragnhild, Abeiuwa and Noemi were sharing in the power he had in the world. By being married to Billy, they were part of the power that governed the Empire of Ooo. He was quite literally offering Nieve a seat at the table. "Terms," Ragnhild announced, drawing Odessa's face to hers. "This is _our_ family," Abeiuwa agreed. "Our laws." It wasn't quite what the older woman was expecting, but it was the deal she was going to be offered. Finn sat back, resting his hands on the arms of his chair. _Let the bargaining begin,_ he thought.

As Odessa worked to convince her neighbors that her grand-daughter should be allowed to become one of their number, Fionna the Human was putting together a bag in the quarters she shared with her husband, while Patrick watched her from the doorway. She was going. Seven months pregnant, and she was heading off into danger. He was supposed to be taking up the slack. He was supposed to be managing these little problems so his pregnant wife could stay home and rest. He'd been struggling with feelings of failure _before_ he fucked up in the bandit kingdoms. Seeing Fi having to go out and put in work for the family again/still, he felt worthless. What did this powerful, _capable_ woman need with a loser like him?

Fionna had felt him come in. She was attuned to him now. The crystals in her body would tell her when he was near. Lately they'd been telling her of his distress. Really, she'd felt that distress for a while, but she'd been at a loss as to how to even talk about it. Guys weren't supposed to talk about how they were feeling. Girls weren't built to understand the problems guys had. Girls, she well knew, were built to love the big, hunky guy who didn't seem to have a worry in the world. Men like that were _easy_ for a girl to love. They took care of everything, and they let you live as if you hadn't a care in the world.

In real life, though...

"Tell me what's hurting you," Fionna burbled. It was half a command. Patrick glanced away. "Is it that I'm going," she asked? She hadn't chosen this, and he knew it. That wasn't bothering him. Fionna was the only person who _could_ move the Tesla Barrier in the time they had to get it done. With the Peanuts' army marching through the former Wildberry Kingdom and doing a little ernest looting in Cocoa City, the border with the bad-lands was wide open. The horde that had hit at Lizard Kingdom could show up there any day. They simply didn't have time for Nadia's peeps to build their carefully manufactured nodes and carefully install them in the ground at carefully measured intervals. That could take _weeks_, and that was time they didn't really have. The border would be open the whole time Fi was working on this.

"Patrick," Fionna murmured. "Patrick, talk to me..." The young wizard flinched. Sitting down on their bed, Fionna said, "I want to talk, Patrick. We have to talk about this." Patrick nodded, but he didn't open his mouth. With a sigh, Fionna murmured, "when mom and dad were having problems, daddy kept trying to talk, but mom was so ashamed of what she was doing, she wouldn't talk... It... They almost split up. We have to talk, Patrick." "I fucked up," he muttered. "You needed sex," Fionna retorted.

Patrick's head whipped around. His face was red-hot, and he kept opening his mouth and closing it again, as if he couldn't muster the words. "You needed sex," she repeated. "You're a guy, and you're still young. You need it, and I haven't been able to give you anything but the occasional titty-fuck. You were vulnerable." "I-I'm ashamed," he muttered. "I... part of me... I'm mad at myself, Fi... Part of me... I... It was like I had something that I don't get with you..."

He found her frowning at him. "Not that, babe," he said. "You're pretty good in bed... more than pretty good. You could probably fuck me to death..." Blushing, she said, "that's sort of the thing, Patrick... I'm... I'm a nymphomaniac." His head whipped around. "I heard your mom and mine talking about... girl stuff," Fionna murmured. "Your mom said that she had it real bad... My mom... has the same problem. They kinda' always want it... When daddy's not home, mom has this electric gadget..."

Patrick blushed to his hair. His mind was blown as he realized just how much of his mom was really in Simone. They shared more than a face. He'd known about his mom's sex-toy collection for years. It was one of the things that he'd sort-of been embarrassed about. She'd done her best not to be seen using a vibrator on herself, but Patrick had _heard_ it a couple of times when she thought he was outside or busy with homework.

Flushing, Fionna glanced at the floor and admitted, "I've been tempted to jump some dude a couple times, Patrick. A lot of the time. I'm... I didn't understand it... I guess I thought I'd settled on you, and I didn't understand why I felt that way... Sometimes even after we get done, I still kinda' want some more." Patrick swallowed hard. This was going all kinds of places he hadn't expected, and some of those places made him very uncomfortable. "It sometimes feels like you don't really need me," he admitted. Her head snapped up in shock. Nodding, he said, "Cerelia made me feel like she needed protection... from a guy."

Fionna blushed. She'd honestly never thought of that. "I'm my father's daughter, Patrick," murmured New Fionna. "I can't help what I am. Know that I need you. You ground me. You support me, when I sometimes feel like I'm losing who I am." They were going down deep, but she knew these things had to get said. When she was heading into danger and risking never seeing her family again, she especially needed to say these things.

"I sometimes feel like I'm responsible for that," he admitted. "I... feel like I shouldn't..." "You did it out of love," Fionna reminded him. "You did it because you love me and our daughter both. We're flawed people, and I... I'm a tomboy. That's a part of me, and I can't have the kind of relationship with you where I'm dependent like that. But I depend on you for other things that matter just as much. You've got a lot of grampa in you. You're wiser than I am, and you've always been that way. I can't be angry about Cerelia because you were needy, and I wasn't giving you a lot of the things you needed. I want to take the lesson here, and move on."

Rising, Fionna strode towards him. Patrick met her halfway across the room and embraced her. Laying her head on his shoulder, she said, "we're _still_ going to have a great life together. We'll... We'll do this one more time. Hopefully, we'll get a boy. I'd like to have one. Kinda' like Billy, Star, and me..." "Fi," he said, "stop dumbing yourself down around me. That's... that's my wisdom for today. I have to come around and accept that this is what you've had to become. We're both old enough to accept it." "Yes, honey," she agreed.

Kissing his cheek, she said, "you should go to that club daddy used to go to, Patrick. When moms weren't giving him anything, he could go down there and get some relief. I've heard they'll let you tug it in the back rooms if you ask nicely and pay them well." Patrick stammered, "y-you..." "You're a _man_, Patrick," she said. "I'd be selfish to try to keep you from relieving yourself while I'm... occupied. If more girls recognized that–_accepted_ that–guys wouldn't be getting in trouble, creeping around." "Ok," he said, as he hugged his beautiful, wise wife. "Be careful, Fi. Mona and I need you." Promising that she would, the pretty blonde turned, grabbed her bag, and headed for the door.

**Penny is taking a long, _long_ time to die in a space outside of time, but the hell she unleashed is still plaguing the world. With the Bad-Bunny headed into danger, Patrick and Fionna have reconciled at last. And Finn? Well, he's rolling the dice on an untrustworthy ally. Let's see if Nieve can behave herself now.**


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3:

"I'm pleased you're ok," Fionna murmured. Maja grunted something seemingly hostile, in spite of the fact that _she_ had summoned Fionna. The witch was bustling around the former storeroom picking up odds and ends. She'd been working on something when Fionna got here, but she'd put that aside when the younger woman came through the door. "I understand that you're going to move the barrier," Maja rumbled, as she put a small flask of emerald-dust on the table. "We left the opening there to permit access to the wild lands and keep the peanuts occupied," Fionna replied. "Since the peanuts aren't cooperating, father has to make alternative plans."

As she watched, Maja mixed up the various chemicals on the table, and she could feel the witch drawing power from the air around them. Having learned a thing or two from the Grid-Face Princess, Fionna had become attuned to when wizards were doing that. A part of her was a little nervous about that. Maja was dangerous and unpredictable (still). Her face was completely unreadable as she continued to work at whatever she was doing. "I've been looking in on my little brother," Fionna murmured, "since you weren't able. I... I'd asked Star to do it, but now I guess you can do it yourself." "Children shouldn't be in prison," Maja muttered. "Children should be with their mothers," Fionna replied.

Maja said nothing to that. Fionna could feel her drawing more and more power, focusing it on whatever was in the crucible on the table. Finally the power seemed to reach its peak, as Fionna nattered on about what little Chiang was doing these days. Using her powers to make the heavy, ceramic flask float, Maja poured the contents of the crucible into a bit of clay that had been shaped into a mold of some sort. Fionna hadn't really even noticed that when she came in. Now she gave it her full attention, as Maja pulled the heat out of the thing, fusing it before Fionna's eyes.

Setting the slowly-cooling crucible aside, Maja began to crack open her mold as Fi watched. Minutes past into eternity as Maja quietly chipped the clay away to expose what she'd been making. It wasn't exactly what Fionna expected when she came down here. Honestly, she'd just been surprised and pleased to be hearing from the witch. It was a morale boost in a time where it felt like things weren't ever going to get better.

"It's warm," said Maja, as she handed the thing to Fionna. It was a crude pendant of some kind. Holding it up to the light, Fionna was a little surprised to find herself holding what appeared to be a green rabbit's foot. "That will help you," said Maja. "Now. We're even." "I didn't protect you for that," Fionna retorted. "I don't like debts," the witch muttered. Fionna laughed at her. When the witch glared back at her in anger, Fionna merely hugged her and kissed her cheek, saying, "I'll tell Drew to bring Chiang by. I'll see you later, Mmms." Without another word, she turned, picked up her bag, and headed for the door. "And wear some damned armor," Maja shouted! "Not a glob-damned _dress_!" Fionna gave her a jaunty salute as she slipped out the door.

Heading out to the courtyard, Fionna went over all the things she had to get done. Nadia joined her as she was crossing the atrium, her mind on the past. Her life had irrevocably changed the night Bon took up with Frenchie. Her stepmother had tried to make her see reason, but she'd had a lot of trouble with it. A lot of the problem was immaturity. She knew she'd been immature and completely unprepared to live as an adult. She'd still been a child in a woman's body–still in school in more ways than one. She'd been guilty of anger and even hatred towards Emeraude back then. She'd hated the older woman for thwarting what she saw as her future. Now she realized that the notorious Huntress Wizard had only been trying to help her cross that last threshold into adulthood. _And it was a good thing she did,_ thought the Bad-Bunny. She'd only _barely_ been ready for what was coming down the road.

"I don't like this," muttered the stacked princess. Fionna snorted. She'd been hearing nothing _but_ that since this decision got made. She'd heard it from all the moms–every last one of them. The only one she _hadn't_ heard this from was Maja. The witch... was far more practical. Fionna found herself fingering the strange charm in her pocket. Centuries of living hard with every hand turned against her had taught the witch a very valuable lesson that Fionna found she'd only _scratched_ at. The world was going to keep on trucking on. You could _try_ to shield your family from it, or you could prepare them to do their piece. _Prepare them, and be thankful for the help, Fi,_ she thought.

"We're going to go over the plan on the way over," the Bad-Bunny announced, startling the pretty princess. Fionna gave her stepmother no chance to freeze up, as she immediately launched into a discussion of how they were going to get this done. Step by step by step. Nadia could only follow along, tracking the thread of the conversation, as she wondered how logic had failed her when the woman who had always been least able to manage clear thinking was as clear as a cloudless sky.

The plan was hardly the sort of thing Nadia looked at as a plan. A plan typical of her folk usually involved intricate scientific analysis, days of measurements, and _consensus_–lots and lots of consensus. Fionna's plan mostly revolved around the timing of events that she had already decided on. She was going to move the anchor for the northern stretch of wall as close as she physically could to the edge of the Grey Forest. It would take her a couple of tries to get it close without setting fire to the forest, but a guard-force of slime-dudes would hold down the opening in the border until she had things figured out.

When she knew where to put the northern anchor, she'd rebuild the entire stretch of nodes, running them down deep as she could to make them almost impossible to remove by any conventional means. That work would take a couple of days all on its own, and the northern barrier would be down the whole time. Once the northern barrier was in its new configuration, she'd take a truck south to move the southern wall.

The devil, as always, was in details Finn typically glossed over. "I want you to do the switch to the new powerplant while its down," said Fionna. The Grid-Face People had been working on Fusion Engines to power the barricade since the Dipped got put away. Now the new machinery was ready. The old fission reactors would be placed in standby. They had machinery to switch back and forth, but the whole works had to come down to get it running. And Fionna wanted to do it now. Nadia thought she was mad–a notion not hindered by the young lady's habit of dropping giant words in the middle of her typically earthy diatribes.

Up ahead, a nervous Billy the Human stood waiting alongside an airship. He was raw with his unhappiness. It made Star chuckle. "So how many times did you try it," she asked? They'd all secretly been out to the old battlefield in the grasslands. They'd all tried building and rebuilding Tesla nodes, even some of the moms. The only people able to consistently do it with anything like speed were Fionna and Shoko. Swapping one pregnant mommy for another hardly made sense. Fionna was going, and Star had made her peace with that. Bill gave her a dirty look that told her all that needed saying without his saying a word.

Of course Bill had quite a lot going on just now. His wives had decided he was going to marry Nieve. They'd decided it was expedient to share Billy's life with somebody they despised–just as they'd let Hamest enter their lives. It was something crazy-mysterious for Star, hinting at how her family had gotten started in the first place. The whole business had gotten her thinking. If Billy could get himself almost married off against his will, what did that say for Fionna? Or Star herself?

Adding to the drama was the fact that the Lizard Princess insisted on hanging around and getting underfoot. She swore up and down that she was here merely to find her missing books, but she kept on looking for them in Billy's office. Noemi had twice told her off. Of course, as Star reflected on that, Olesia Okonski came strolling around the back of the airship, wearing a natty divided skirt in blue under a tight blouse that did little to hide the basketballs she was smuggling. She called the outfit 'adventuring attire'. Abeiuwa called it something else. It was a subtle reminder of the far bigger threat to Billy's peace that was waiting in the wings.

Olesia was the proverbial 'sweet, young thing'. The gaggle of cougars was already jealous of her presence. Far from being a hindrance, the fact that she was an elemental–and would live _centuries_–was a sign to them that she could give Billy the things they couldn't. After all, not only was he much younger than his wives, but Billy was an immortal wizard. That was how his wives saw things, even if Billy thought the idea of an ice-wizard romancing an elemental was absurd.

Rumors suggested Ragnhild was taking polysorbate-80 again, and Noemi would go ballistic anytime the young woman's name got mentioned. An oblivious Billy did nothing to chase the plump girl away. He was absorbed with work, and when he wasn't doing that, he was wrangling five kids of his own. Star had often wondered how her dad got jammed up in the trainwreck that was his life. Now, as she observed her brother's world from the outside, she thought she was watching the wreck in motion. Olesia was _going_ to get into Billy's pants someday. And there might well be hell to pay afterwards.

Seeing where his sister was looking, Billy announced, "firepower and reconnaissance. We're vulnerable while the wall's down..." And only Fionna could make the decision to bring it back up. Star nodded sagely. Yup, the pretty girl with the big tits was just extra help. Seeing the car with their sister pull up, Star dragged his face down to hers to kiss, announcing, "be careful, big brother." Passing Fionna, she announced, "have a fun trip, dweeb..." "Enjoy the hangin' out, twerp," Fionna reflexively retorted. The strange conversation left Nadia staring until she realized they were saying goodbye.

Striding up to Billly, Fionna announced, "what? No lizard-cougar?" Billy blushed to his hair. His sisters were just as bad as his wives with needling him about that. It helped not at all that Hamest had tried inviting herself along until Finn pointed out the fact that there were no libraries or antiquities nerds in the Grey Forest. There was nothing she could spin into an excuse to invite herself along. Hugging her brother, Fionna hefted her bag and climbed the ramp. It was time to go.

Late that day, as the kids were winging their way east, Sarah walked into the nursery to find her husband there, cradling little Nadezhda, as he went about the job of changing her. "I though you'd be at the Botanical Gardens," she burbled. The big man's face twisted with emotion, and she knew it felt like piling-on. He'd been unhappy with this from day one, and she was all but suggesting he'd basically bailed on the whole thing in spite of the family's joint decision. In even tones, Finn said, "Rags has everything in hand. This is going to affect her more than me." That was how he saw it. Ragnhild, his once and former girlfriend, now daughter-in-law, was taking the hit for this.

In brittle tones, the big man muttered, "anyway, I promised to spend some time with Hurletta today, so I'm seeing the kids early." Sarah nodded. Without a word, she moved off to gather up some more supplies. There were babies to change. When she came back, Van was clinging to Finn's pants-leg, while Finn stood there holding his son's broken toy. A blanket moratorium had been put in place on buying new toys for the kids. When a toy got broken, it stayed on the shelf in plain sight until Finn found time to either repair it, or a month had passed. The entire pack of wealthy moms had been _very_ upset with that–all but one.

"Why is Nadezhda's crib in a separate room," Finn asked? Sarah glanced away. Nadia was one of her two best friends. And Nadia was rather creeped out by the mini-Rusalka. "No more isolation," Finn rumbled, as he fumbled with the broken toy. His tone brooked no disagreement. Sarah nodded. She'd tried to convince Finn to let her fix the toys, but that had gotten shut down almost as fast as the buying of new ones. The lesson didn't take if Sarah used her super-human abilities to just fix the toys as fast as they got broken.

"Sometimes the nursemaids have visions when they're in here," Sarah murmured. He knew where she was going with that as soon as the words got said. Baba-Yaga's heir was the source of the visions. "Baba Yaga isn't going to do something to harm a child, Sarah," Finn muttered. "She visits her grand-niece and sings to her sometimes." He knew it because Talia had told him. She'd told him that she would look in on the little girl to see how she was doing. It was a pointed reminder of just who and what they were screwing around with. Honestly, Nadia should have known better. Things had been getting better between her and the Rusalka. She shouldn't be risking that on _feelings_.

The pair worked at changing babies, while Van did his best to be underfoot the whole time. He wanted his toy back. Finn made him wait. That was a lesson he had to learn. His siblings mattered too. As the King of Ooo diapered the latest heir to the Candy Throne, he asked, "how often does she come to look in on Rosie?" Sarah flushed to her hair. She knew exactly where_ that_ was going to go. "I see," Finn muttered, "and how often is she down in the lab?" Sarah dared not answer _that_ question either, even though she knew that human speculation would take over if she didn't. It was Bonnie's illicit escape. She'd come down to the lab and lose herself in scientific endeavor, bouncing thoughts and ideas off her double. Sarah had tried to steer that early on, but it was hard when she knew just how much Bonnibel missed having her fingers on a set of test-tubes.

"I have some work to do in the lab," Sarah said. "I guess I'll leave you to it." Without another word, she turned and headed for the door. He had been a little cranky when he came in. He'd taken it out on the first face he saw, and he felt bad about that. "Thank-you for the help," he said. "Thanks for all you do to keep this thing going." Taking a deep breath, the android-girl opined, "she needs the escape..." "I don't care about the escape," Finn rumbled. "It's the neglect that's bothering me. Of all the things I'd accept her neglecting, Roseline isn't one of them." "I... I'll talk to her," Sarah sighed. She knew Bonnie's handicap. Hadn't her creator said as much? Shutting the door behind her, the android girl left her husband with his kids.

The distraught android headed for the stairs to the lab. She had been seeing more and more signs of such troubles among the members of the family. The strains were all still there. Cherry hated Breakfast, who was at war with Strudel. Ingrid was their pariah–a woman who'd been the servant/slave of their great enemy, and Lollipop was their jester, spending far too much time on things that did little to help their cause. Marceline was an absentee mom, and Bonnie found her own child _boring_.

That last was the most painful part of their world. Bonnibel Bubblegum hadn't found her children interesting until they were damned near grown up. For much of their lives, she'd been a disinterested force of ill-humor and random acts of discipline that often seemed to come from nowhere. Sarah suspected that many of the moments where Bonnie had chosen to wield her authority over her heirs were as much about spiting Finn and what he thought was right than anything else.

Boniface and Shoko had become _interesting_ when they grew old enough to assert themselves–and when the chore of looking after them was mostly finished. Sarah herself hadn't become _interesting_ until she grew a pair and asserted her rights as a person. _You have to change,_ the android thought, but she hardly knew if that was directed at herself or Bonnie.

Arriving in the lab, she found her newest problem waiting on her–and getting into things. She wanted to slap Finn for dumping this bitch on her, when Sarah would gleefully have wrung her neck for some of the things she'd done. It was the slime-guard who'd tried to murder Bonnie, and it was Blargetha's orders that had sent them here. When you got into the trauma Nadia was still dealing with, and the damage wrought to the Candy Kingdom, Sarah wasn't a fan. "Your laboratory is a mess, Bonnibel," the slime-woman burbled. "It's a sty in here. I'm amazed that you get anything done at all."

"I wasn't expecting company," Sarah retorted, "and you're not here for the conversation." Blargetha gave her a smile and said, "well, since I'm working here now, would it hurt to have your butler come by? Hmm?" Sarah glared at her. If Finn didn't need this bitch... Picking up odds and ends–even the week-old remnant of one of Sarah's lunches–the slime-person burbled, "so Finn needs flying weapons, hmm? He's got an army of elementals..." "Finn isn't as cavalier with other beings' lives," Sarah retorted.

Blargetha took a sniff of the stub of sandwich before swallowing it whole. It was the kind of gross display that Finn had laughed about when he was talking about his memories of Hurletta. For a slime-person, mold just added _flavor_ to bland food. Munching on the moldy sandwich, Blargetha said, "don't supposed you'd let me use that robot..." It took a moment. "Most sophisticated thing I've ever seen," the slime-person admitted. "I wouldn't have made a double like that..." She chuckled, and, in a conspiratorial whisper, added, "if I'd known it was so life-like, I'd have done the swap. A little programming, nobody'd have known. I could probably have been the power behind the throne for..."

The arrogant witch didn't realize the other woman was moving until Sarah was practically sharing her dress. "My _name_ is Sarah," she growled, voice low and dangerous. "I personally have a number of reasons for wanting you dead, _princess_. Finn needs you alive. For now. Know that I'm perfectly capable of _pulverizing_ you should you cross me." Blargetha let out a squeak of fright, and she all but leapt back from the android. "Now," said the android woman, "what do you need? To start with?" With each word she spoke, she closed on the hapless princess, keeping up the terror. Sarah knew it was immoral, but it felt so _good_ to take out her frustrations on someone who desperately needed to be brought down a few pegs.

Finn was sitting in a chair, singing to the kids when Lollipop appeared for her stint at looking after babies late that evening. She was a little startled to see him because he'd missed dinner. Everyone had assumed he was working. "It's crazy every time I see you doing that," she opined. Finn chuckled, "since the nano-bug thing happened, it works better. Listen..." As the candy-treat looked on in amazement, the big man warbled like a bird, making the kids giggle. It wasn't the first he'd demonstrated the gadget stuck in his throat, but the context shocked her and made her sad. Changes. Betty was right. Fighting back tears, the former model moved in, plucking Van and Rosie off Finn's lap. With a sigh, the big man said, "I guess I should go..."

Rising, the big man checked himself over just to be sure there were no specs of baby-goo on him anywhere. Giving his lady a kiss, he headed out to meet his bodyguard. Morale much improved, the King of Ooo headed down to the garage to find the car warmed up and waiting. "You look like a man who got some," announced the bodyguard. "Not like that, man," Finn said. "Was with my kids." Nodding, as he opened the car door, the bodyguard replied, "ah... Got it." Shutting the door, the bodyguard hustled to the front seat and settled himself as Finn rummaged through his bag for the work he'd put aside. The budget was doing better. There was no longer red ink everywhere. Dudes were getting paid. People were getting back to their homes. He even found a report from Sarah on a possible way to restore the land the Dipped had destroyed. Promising himself that he would thank her the next time he saw her, the big man settled in for the drive to Hurletta's hotel.

The hurly burly of Bonnie's capitol was slowly returning, with cars, trucks, and bicycles everywhere. The stores that were open were _full_. Spying a lollipop-person, he found himself thinking of his wife and their shared past. She'd been one of the first girls he'd ever met. He'd found himself kind of hungering for candy-people when he got to the age where girls weren't _icky_ anymore. It was a wonderful part of his past, and he found himself already sad to be leaving this place. The feeling was stronger even than when he'd been chosen as Warlord of Ooo. Back then, he'd always, deep in his heart, believed he would get home to the treehouse. Now, he was _choosing_ to leave, and it made him sad.

"Triscuit Arms," announced the driver. Shaking off the mood, Finn put the bag away and slid across to the door. He all but bounced out of the seat when his bodyguard opened the door. Striding through the door, he stopped short on the far side as he caught sight of the person he'd come to see. Hurletta. Dressed in a shimmery, hip-hugging blue dress with a strategic cleavage window centered at the join of her new collar-bones. Instead of her crown, she was wearing a golden hair-net, and she was smiling softly. Striding forward, the big man took her hand and brought it to his lips to kiss in flirtatious fashion, which made her giggle. It was a pleasant change from the way things had been between them and a return to happier moments of the past. Taking her arm, he said, "I'd be delighted if you'd accompany me, my Lady." The Slime-Princess blushed and giggled, as the pair stepped off.

In the east, Chelsea the wax-hustler picked up her phone and glanced at the number. Gemma. What the fuck did _she_ want? Flicking her phone on, she opened with, "you fucked up. You were supposed to deliver the Matriarch. You delivered us nothing, and you didn't even warn us that fucking Finn was in the mix." Gemma, who was taken aback by the bile she'd just been subjected to, stammered and stuttered for a moment. "Well," Chelsea demanded? "What the fuck do you want? I have half a mind to put a TOS on your ass."

"Fionna the Human is here," the nymph burbled. That gave Chelsea pause. Getting a grip on her emotions, Gemma replied, "I didn't _know_ Finn the Human was there. I got chased away by the Mafia Princess. She had her thug of a bodyguard bum-rush us to the airport. I had that bitch in sight of Emerald City..." Chelsea cut her off. "What the fuck is Fionna doing there," she demanded? She was interested now. Gemma set the hook. "I'm not entirely sure. Her brother's here too. The Grid-Face people are here in force, and their princess is meeting with the Matriarch and her cabinet."

"The barrier," Chelsea burbled. There was only one reason that Fionna would be there with a pack of Grid-Face people. They were moving the barrier. "_Fuck_," she howled! She chucked the phone across the room. All Gemma could hear was the sound of the thing tumbling across the wooden floor, then nothing. It was several minutes before the wax-hustler called back. "When are they moving," she demanded? "I don't know," Gemma replied. "They only just got here, and I wasn't invited to the meeting."

"Do they know about you," Chelsea demanded? The nymph shivered. She'd never considered that. "Emeraude is naive in her way," she replied. "I don't think it would occur to her..." Chelsea interrupted her, "find out when they're moving the barrier. It's essential." Without a further word, she hung up on the nymph. After, the wax-hustler sat there staring down at her phone. She was out of position. She'd moved her army of the damned south to Lizard Kingdom, and now she was out of position to attack the barrier while it was open. This was going into the ditch! She needed to figure out what she was going to do when Peihong found out.

**Finn's morale is improving, though the family is clearly not out of the woods yet. Fionna's off to move the Tesla Barrier, and it seems for once the good guys are ahead of the toxic twins. And, of course, a little flash of temper to let you know that Sarah is more than just 'robot-Bonnie'.**


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4:

The complaining was giving Emeraude Mertens a headache. Absolute power was something she'd fought against for a lifetime, but it was looking mighty good right now. In a past life, there would have been maybe a couple of quick murders and a couple of bodies to hide. In the right now, she found herself pounding a fist into a table to cut off the squealing. "_Holly_," she snapped! "They can't anchor the wall on _nothing_! You want to just move the hole to another vulnerable place! That does nothing to help us! At least if they push the barrier up against our eastern border, we have a _chance_ to keep our enemies at bay!"

It was, to the Huntress, the best bad option. No conventional army could cross the Wall. With Finn lending them troops, they wouldn't be forcing the gate either. This was actually good for them. They were allowed to charge a toll to pass through the forest. Now the Tesla Barrier would funnel travelers to them. It was another sign that Gemma's influence was having negative impacts on the others. Holly, who was normally reasonable and thoughtful, was showing signs of the same delusional thinking as the others. "If those are your orders, Mother," Holly replied. Evenly, Emeraude said, "they are. Focus your efforts on preparing replacements for the water gates. You may go."

The angry younger woman strode out, all but stomping as she went. It was another sign that maybe it was time to be shed of Gemma. She'd relied on the older woman at first. Gemma was good at working her infuriating subordinates–getting them to be productive and useful instead of their typical childish petulance. _But that cuts both ways, doesn't it,_ thought the warrior-wizard. _Simone was right. It's a lot easier to sit down on a throne than to keep one._ Her eyes flicked to the little picture above the mantle. Her family. Her best friend. Their husband and kids. She found herself reaching for the phone just to hear a familiar voice.

"Momma," Fionna announced. Emeraude's face snapped over to the door. "We're headed out to the barrier," the blonde announced. She was dressed in a pair of rough, blue shorts under a big, poofy maternity smock. Emeraude would have called them 'mom' shorts. _But she's a mom, now,_ thought the older woman. Fi was in the _club_. Emeraude had argued with Finn about this. Now the time for arguing was done. "Bill going," she asked? Fionna caught herself from rolling her eyes, and that made the nymph chuckle. "Ok, baby," she said. "Be careful." The pretty blonde gave her a beautiful, sunny smile, as she turned to go.

Fionna headed out to the street outside the Matriarch's residence. Bill was waiting there with the truck alongside his new girlfriend. Olesia. That name was becoming _infamous_ in the Finn-family. The girl was built like a brick shithouse. Fionna found herself wondering what her half-sister, Ember, would look like when she was grown up, because Phoebe was built a lot like Olesia. For that matter, she couldn't help wondering what Mona and Nadine were going to look like. Patrick would have to get himself a sword to chase boys away. Or, more likely, Fionna would teach them to break arms while smiling sweetly. _I get to teach them,_ she thought, as she approached the truck, and the thought brought a smile to her face. It was another epiphany. Why did her dad like being a dad more than being a fighter or a king? _He gets to help make something grow into something so much cooler and better, maybe even than he was,_ thought the pretty blonde mommy.

"I know you spend most of your time out of your clothes," Fionna opined, "but maybe you should invest in some tops that don't bind you up so much. That doesn't look comfortable." The elemental girl blushed to her burning, red-orange hair. Billy bust out laughing, earning himself a withering glare. Having done her shit-disturbing for the morning, the Bad Bunny got into the passenger seat and shut the door. Blushing a little himself, Billy offered, "uh, you going to be ok back here?" Primly, the plump girl replied, "your conveyance is too confined. I'd risk setting it on fire." Without a further word, she climbed into the back of the truck. She was pissed off now. He just knew it. What he didn't get was why his sisters were down on her. Shaking his head at the crazy that was the female, Billy climbed behind the wheel.

A convoy of vehicles joined them as they took the turning for the north gate. Fionna found herself scanning the world around them. She hadn't seen much of the forest when she was here. She'd been too busy running around keeping Berry-Bitch's dudes out. Maja had worked her mojo on some of them, letting them swim under the barricades in the rivers to get around the thorns at the borders. It was a funny memory. The witch had an endless array of tricks in her head. Now those tricks were a resource for them to call on.

"We should learn what we can from Maja," Fionna announced. Billy's face snapped over. It was one of those funny, 'New-Fionna' moments. Certainly, _he_ wouldn't have thought of it. At the same time, if he let himself actually _think_ it through–like a dude was supposed to do–he thought she might be right. Maja the Sky Witch had been doing this dick-dance a long, long time. Their mother had their grampa's _memories_, but not his lived experiences. More to the point, those memories were very dangerous, especially with the Ice-Crown cohabiting her body. Maja had an untapped reservoir of very-personal experiences. She was, just now, one of only three members of their family to have lived through some of the last few centuries of Ooo's history.

_Bonnie's a flighty knucklehead,_ Billy thought. _Marceline's... I can't help thinking Marcie's lost to us._ There was a great possibility that Marceline would be drawn into the netherworld of the Night-O-Sphere forever, taking all her knowledge and lived experience with her. Marshall was a babe in the woods by comparison. _Fionna's right,_ he thought. There was a very real risk they would be relying on Maja simply because there was nobody else, even if they _couldn't_ trust her.

"Daddy asks her questions," Fionna burbled. She was staring straight ahead. It was a strange turn for the day, but Billy tuned in and listened as his sister outlined their dad's strange relationship with his mistress/girlfriend/enemy. If the rest of the family was having trouble, the King of Ooo understood what Maja represented. It didn't feel good that it was basically Maja that had convinced Finn that his son should/could be sold out. At the same time, it was something of an eye-opener. His father was becoming more and more of a _ruler_–a man responsible for more than himself or even his family.

_It started with the bomb, and the lich's island,_ thought the warrior-wizard. Finn the Human had stopped being the big, blue dufus that night. Maybe the change had started before that, but Billy could definitely point to that night as the night _he'd_ had the epiphany. They were holding up the world. What they did mattered on an unimaginable scale. _Your life changed too, bud,_ he thought. He was his father's right-hand. He was married to three women who, together, provided a massive chunk of the army that Billy and Fionna jointly commanded. It was an unsettling realization. His eyes glanced up to the rear-view mirror and the image of Olesia, who was staring all around her at a world she'd only begun to see. He'd been brushing off the bitching and griping about the elemental. Now, he found himself thinking there was more than one reason he should curb her infatuation.

Rolling out through the north gate and onto the plains, they found the small regiment that the Slime Guard had sent. Fionna shivered a little at the sight. She'd fought these guys. Of course they'd been working for the younger slime-sister at the time, so there was that, but it was a little weird calling these guys 'friends' now. Further afield, she could see–and _feel_–the Tesla Barrier. It called to her. She could feel the way it touched the stones of the earth. "You ok," Billy asked? Nodding, Fionna replied, "fine. Working on the problem." Cocking her head to the left, she said, "go that way. Need to go north." She needed to see–and touch–the ground where the forest ended.

To the south and east, the Queen of Ooo paced off nervous, angry energy. She'd been at it through much of the night, having gotten out of bed _twice_. The corpse laying beneath the sheets told the tale of the last such event. She still didn't have an answer as to what the hell she was going to do. The barrier was coming down. They'd had an army in place to exploit the opportunity to raid the civilized kingdoms, but she'd moved the army south on impulse to help her raid the Lizard Kingdom. The move had made things easier. She'd been able to hit the library and go to ground. That had let her get out of the city with her prizes with little trouble instead of facing down the Lizard Guard.

"I've only got one asset left," she thought. Rolf was raiding the fallen Berry Kingdom just now. She'd egged him on to do it more to get him away from patrolling the opening in barrier than anything else. She'd offered him lies and rumors to get him to go chasing the supposed _treasure_ in the Berry Kingdom to give her a chance to swarm the defenseless Peanut Kingdom. The chance to raid the Lizard Kingdom library had proven just too tempting though. She'd figured she had plenty of time to get the army back in place, reckoning that her foes would be too busy fighting fires elsewhere.

Rising, she went to the curtains and pulled them back slightly to reveal the early morning crowds of Chocago going about their business down below her on the street. She had another asset–one she was loath to burn. He was very close to Finn the Human, though. Of all her assets, he might have information on what her nemesis was up to. And he had power and reason to bring large numbers of people into the civilized kingdoms. Letting the curtains fall closed, the little murderess came striding back across the room, shouting for her chief henchman.

Fedir came running at her shouts, his face bland and calm as if he _wasn't_ at risk of murder. It was just another day. This was just business. Inwardly he seethed. He'd managed to survive the disaster in Emerald Kingdom by the skin of his teeth. A fair bit of that was down to luck. He just happened to be in the right tunnel at the right time to avoid getting smoked like the rest of the men. His predecessor had gotten burned alive by one of the elementals. Fedir still heard the screams when he lay himself down to sleep.

"Make me an appointment with Kim," muttered Chelsea. "I need to see him. Today." She spoke in those terms when she was on the ragged edge. She was on the edge of violence and controlling herself with sheer willpower. "I will arrange it," he murmured. His voice was calm and soothing. Chelsea found herself calming down. "I made a mistake last night," she murmured. His eyes flicked to the bed and the corpse of the plaything there. "I will take care of it, my Lady," he said. "Is there else?"

"I need Kim's resources," she said. "You understand?" She was calmer now, and he began to pull out of her what she needed. She wanted an army. On _this_ side of the barrier. That was a tall order. The Thief King had managed to grind up seemingly every masterless bad-man in the civilized kingdoms and even beyond. There were few men left, and most of those had gotten themselves pardons for their crimes and gone straight. Criminals were thin on the ground. "There are men east of the Kingdom of Beauty," Fedir said, "but they will be difficult to coax..." She'd wrecked what goodwill there was in his old stomping grounds. She'd brought a lot of men to ruin trying to raid Princess Beautiful's rotting domain. Nodding, she said, "see to it. I'll... I'll arrange for passage."

With that, she rushed off to the toilet–to wash and make herself beautiful. To Fedir fell the job of removing the corpse from the bed. He personally oversaw the two men who moved the body to the room next door. He made sure it was suitably liquidated so it could be disposed of without notice, and then he got the bedding and mattress removed. While his men worked on covering up a crime, he phoned the real-estate tycoon's secretary. By the time he got done, she was waiting on him in the suite's parlor, radiant in a dress in golden silk that played up her pale yellow complexion. She was most beautiful in the way an Emerald Viper was beautiful with its sparkling green scales as it struck or a Death's Head Wasp was pretty with its iridescent wings just before it stung you to death.

"Kim Kil Wan will see you," Fedir announced, as he approached his evil master. Rising, she showed off for him, twisting and twirling to let him look at the dress she wore. "What do you think," she asked? This was part of the terrifying life his predecessor led. She was a temptress, always seeming as though she was trying to seduce you. It was a trap. His predecessor had cut the throat of _his_ predecessor when he'd gotten too close. "Quite satisfactory, my Lady," Fedir offered. "You will, as they say, knock him dead." She smiled artfully, showing the sparkling teeth of a person of means.

"Do you wish to send to the men in the hinterlands," he asked? Stopping in mid-twirl, she pondered that a long, long while. "Should I," she asked? "They can do little where they are," he reminded her. They were shut out of Lizard Kingdom. Nobody in that band of the damned wanted to go back and face death there. "Bring them back north," she sighed. "They won't get here in time to do anything, but at least they can maybe occupy some of his army." It was the move of a ditherer, and he knew it. She was on the edge. She was on the ragged edge, and she didn't know where to go from here. A part of him said 'push', but he wasn't stupid enough to rush into something and get himself murdered. She still had some loyalists in her nasty little band.

They found Kim Kil Wan in his office. The tycoon was seated at his luxurious desk, going over his taxes when his secretary announced his visitor. The dog-icorn was counting something of an ironic dividend at the moment. The Dipped had scorched a lot of his property in the east, burning empty fields down to stone. The irony, of course, was most of the property had been little better than stone to begin with. He'd bought much of it with an eye towards eventually selling it off to build another town. Bonnibel Bubblegum had been making noises about another large town for years before the rebellion, and his insiders in her government had steered him to the most likely site.

The ruthless businessman had bought up empty properties and underperforming farms by the dozen until he had a vast swatch of land. He'd been expecting to make millions of coins selling the land to the Candy Princess when she finally pulled the lever to build her latest vanity project. Much of the land was poorly suited to farming, with rocks and boulders laying much too close to the surface. There wasn't enough soil there to really grow anything of consequence. That little gem of knowledge had enabled his agents and surveyors to ruthlessly underbid the people who owned those plots since none of them had idea the first what was coming.

The rebellion and the Dipped had subsequently derailed all those glorious plans, leaving Kim with a pile of property that was useless for the moment. His sisters had been making idiotic noises about a 'dog town' for their people, but Kim wasn't so charitable as to give up so much money on an empty-minded idea like that. Instead, he'd written off the damage. He'd written it all off on his taxes, taking outrageous advantage of the Royal Accounting Service and their agents' terror of the wilderness. They had no idea his properties had been worthless when he bought them, and now those write-offs were paying the taxes for his profits.

The dog-icorn rose to greet his exotic visitor. "Chelsea," he greeted the flamboyant actress and singer. Striding out from behind his desk, he swooped down to kiss her fingers. "Kim," she greeted him in her usual sweet tones. He wasn't sure what mesmerized him more–that voice, or the plump knobs under her dress. She was put together nice, and even though he got plenty of action, he always found himself hungry to pole Chelsea.

The dog-icorn steered his beautiful visitor to a seat on the sofa in his office, and Chelsea crossed her knees artfully, reminding him of the day she'd seduced him. He'd hit that round little butt from behind for the better part of an hour, then told his secretary to cancel his appointments. It was stupid, and he'd had to pay off his old secretary and get rid of her to keep the secret from his wife. Pat was happily unaware of his _hobbies_, and he wanted to keep it that way. At the same time, he'd banged this little bitch a few times. It was the perk of a rich man.

In exchange, Chelsea asked little enough. He got her into a posh apartment atop the same building his daughter lived in. He helped her raise money for her opera troupe–for a cut of the profits. And they shared what they learned about goings-on around the civilized kingdoms. She'd been a wealth of knowledge on Engagement Ring Kingdom, and she'd helped him corner the housing market in Warrior Kingdom. The businessman bustled around the room, making up drinks for the two of them. Sitting down beside her, Kim presented her with a glass of licorice whiskey, asking, "so, how may I help you?"

Sipping liquor, the wax-person replied, "with all the disruption in travel, it's getting harder to move my people. I'm looking at canceling show dates." It was bad news and a hit to profits. "Well, I have suggested you consider a permanent venue," Kim replied. He'd suggested it for more than one reason. Chelsea was one of his favorite side-pieces. There was just something about getting to slip her the sausage. Getting to bang her on a more regular basis had its appeal–though he'd have to be careful of being seen in her digs. At the same time, it would have been pretty nice to get more steady income from the Opera Populaire. As one of the silent partners in the enterprise, he was due a substantial share of the profits, but touring opera companies weren't as profitable as he'd thought. He thought part of it was the risk and drama of hauling equipment and people across the wilderness.

Smiling in teasing fashion, Chelsea said, "I've had a better idea..." "Oh," burbled Kim? Smiling at him over the rim of her glass, she said, "I've met a lot of interesting people in my travels in the wild-lands. Actors and jugglers and acrobats..." Interest piqued, he took a sip from his glass and asked, "what's your idea...?" Setting the glass down, Chelsea leaned forward, entering his space, as she said, "an entertainment venue... People have money to spend again... Fun for... _low-brow_ people alongside entertainment for... _sophisticated_ people like us..." Frowning, Kim replied, "hmmm... I admit I've never thought too much about poor people..."

Chelsea smiled, knowing this ass had been born to a father who hadn't two coins to rub together. But that was Kim Kil Wan–forever puffing himself up to meet an image of success. He had the money, but he wanted the respect. "I came to you in hopes you could help me with some... _problems_," Chelsea murmured. "Oh," he asked? He was instantly derailed from thinking too hard about what she'd proposed. "Well," said Chelsea. "I've heard that this King of Ooo has placed an impenetrable barrier across the north-east border of the civilized kingdoms. I had to go all the way south to the bandit-kingdoms to get home. It would keep my entertainers from coming west..."

"Ah," said Kim, with a nod. His uncle was really kind of an idiot, and Kim scarcely saw what one princess saw in that oaf, much less a pack of them. Finn the Human had been known far and wide for bludgeoning his way through problems, and that hardly seemed to have gotten better since the Lich War. Sitting up straight, the dog-icorn business tycoon opined, "there's plenty of ways around a wall. Let me do some looking." Smiling sweetly, Chelsea asked, "how're things in the capitol? I... hear things." "My idiot uncle is there now," Kim replied. "He's got the devil's luck. Entirely too obsessed with sex, if you take my meaning." Those women had him wrapped around their fingers. It was a wonder he got anything done at all.

With a chuckle, Kim leaned towards her and said, "my sister tells me they've got him going to a shrink. Seems they think he's on the ragged edge." He said it in a delicious whisper, as if it was a very funny thing. Chelsea tittered as if she was the air-head that she pretended to be, even as she filed that information away for future use. When Kim put his hand on her knee, the wax-hustler told him, "business first, Kim. I'll have my agent contact you. I should go... Appearances, after all." He knew. He didn't want to be firing another secretary. That would arouse Pat's suspicion. "We'll have to talk some time," Kim suggested, as he rose to walk his guest to the door.

Outside, the wax-hustler smiled. She was back in the fight. If Kim could slip her army across the barrier, she could find weapons for them. Then watch out! Smiling that sinister smile, the evil creature went her way, passing her chump's daughter in the hall. Bronwyn stared at the wax-witch's back. Her daddy's ho was back in town. Rolling her eyes, she found herself really rethinking her loyalty to her dad. She wanted to scratch his eyes out for cheating on her momma. _No proof,_ she thought, with a sigh. She had no proof of what he was doing. Muttering curses, the hybrid headed up the hall for her lunch appointment.

**Kim Kil Wan is dick-thinking, giving our deadly beauties another way to strike at the Finn crew. Meanwhile Billy is working on outgrowing the habit of thinking with his other head. Our Young Heroes are growing up.**


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5:

Twenty days.

They'd been at this for more than two weeks, and Billy was something of a nervous wreck. Olesia felt for him, because he was _carrying_ this whole thing. Every morning, the young hero moved out bright and early with the little army they'd brought. The were camped out in the wilderness north and east of the Grey Forest in the center of the northern wastes. Each day, business started with Billy the Human working out with Fionna when, where, and how long she was going to be working. The Glass Witch was slowly moving the position of the barrier, one section at a time, building new nodes that went miles down into the earth and a hundred feet into the air. It was a shocking display of artifice and power.

But it was taking time.

Far from doing the whole thing at one go, Fionna was only doing ten to twenty miles a day maximum. And each time she took the barrier down, Billy got the joy of patrolling the length of the barrier. He kept the troops on call, but he would go aloft, relying on the power of the Ice-Tiara to fly. He would go back and forth, covering the length of the open space, sometimes criss-crossing hundreds of miles of chill air–while the Ice-Tiara tried its damnedest to tempt him. They were closing the gap. The length of barrier that remained open was getting smaller and smaller and smaller each and every day. They were now within roughly eighty miles of the Grey Forest's northern border–a day's hard work for Fionna. That would see this phase of the exercise get shut down, and Olesia was looking forward to the rest herself.

Billy wasn't the only one working himself to a frazzle. Olesia would go out into the wilderness, using her power to sense fires and 'walk' through them. She would go from one fire to another, spying on whatever–or _who_ever–was near them. It was a reasonable approximation of a strategy. She would be gone _hours_ across the day, and, in spite of her growing skill at it, the whole business was an _exhausting_ exercise. She wasn't Phoebe, after all. The older woman had seemingly been _born_ for this kind of crazy life. For Olesia, it was something of a shock. Born to a wealthy, if minor, family, she'd been accustomed to laying in bed until late in the morning. At least she had before _now_. _You better get up,_ she thought. The crew was eating breakfast. It would be time to leave soon.

Rising with a yawn, the plump girl climbed out of the fire-pit and stood there a moment, yawning and stretching in her nightgown, seemingly oblivious of the stares. Fionna had heard more than one of the lonely, _horny_ slime-dudes suggesting they might be willing to take their chances on a burnt-off dick. Nor were they alone. Billy was doing his best to avoid looking at the young woman, but he was a dude. It almost made Fionna laugh to see him doing his best to stare the plump girl in the eyes, when he wanted to look at her knobs instead.

As Fionna munched on pancakes, Olesia came strolling over, carrying a small tin box full of coal. It was a spartan diet for an elemental, and even Fionna could see that Olesia was losing weight. At least _her stomach_ was losing weight. Those knockers looked like they would _never_ get smaller. As she sat down before the Mertens siblings, the plump girl asked, "so how long today?" With a shrug, Fionna replied, "this is the tough part. This part will probably take me a week..." Olesia goggled at her. Calmly, New Fionna reminded her, "the closer we get to the forest, the greater the risk that we'll have arcing to the wooden structure of the thorn-wall. Princess Knockers owes me a design for a node that'll reflect the energy back, but she's not finished yet."

The plump girl sighed heavily, and Billy knew exactly what she was thinking. He'd been kind of thinking it himself when Fionna explained it last night. He found himself chuckling, "hang on, O. Just a little longer. Once we're maybe twenty miles out, I think you can stand down. I can have guys on trucks do the rest then." Shaking her head, Olesia reminded him, "we still have the opening down _south_, William. You should save your troops for that. You've still got _hundreds_ of miles of open space in the south. If anything, once we're close, I should get my bottom down _there_." Billy stopped laughing, mid-guffaw, and he simply stared at her.

He wasn't the only one. Fionna stared too. She'd been needling her big brother relentlessly about having the plush princess around. Her jabs at Nadia weren't only aimed at her stepmom. Some of them were aimed at this girl, who was doing a lot of the things Nadia used to do that so irritated the Mertens kids. Now Fionna found herself re-evaluating her view of things. Olesia wasn't an airhead just here to take a ride on Billy's pole and wreck his home. She _was_ doing her part to keep the peace. "I can start moving the barrier north, cow-hips," Fionna chuckled. "Once I've got the final position of the northern barrier set, I can do a quicky barrier for the south. We'll only have maybe twenty miles of hole at first before we start working again." Primly, the young princess said, "alright. I need to go get some more provisions anyway." Fionna made a face. Coal for breakfast! Yuck!

Back in the capitol, Finn the King came strolling into Bonnie's laboratory to look in on his latest project. In spite of his anger at Blargetha, he'd been pleased to get her back. He'd been working the problem of building the flying weapons he needed for _weeks_, going over the issue over and over in his mind. Several of his wives were certified geniuses, with the knowledge and skills to build what he wanted, but they also came with handicaps that kept them away from doing any such thing.

Nadia was a devout pacifist. She was happy to build something like the Tesla Barrier for him. It was a defense and not a weapon that could be used to harm others. She was happy even to shuttle the battle-robots around in their steel cages, so long as she never had to give the commands to use them. Bonnie was fully capable of building such a weapon, but with the ugliness of Wildberry's war against them only just concluded, she'd gone squeamish again. She was sensitive to the image they were projecting to their neighbors, and she wasn't excited to be pursuing more weapons just now.

Blargetha didn't have any qualms about building weapons. She'd been happy to do it just for the fuck of it. Now she had something of an _incentive_. It was, after all, the sole reason he had for keeping her alive just now. More to the point, she was an outlaw already–outside the laws and rules that governed Ooo. Maybe the leader of the pacifistic Grid-Face People couldn't build flying weapons, but _she_ could.

Whistling a tune as he strolled into the lab, the King of Ooo glanced around him, hoping to find Sarah. She hadn't been at breakfast, and she'd sort of missed their date-night last night. He didn't find his wife, but he did find the nasty little bitch he kept as his prisoner standing before a massive model of some kind. Indeed, she was _absorbed _in a detailed examination of what she was looking at, stopping periodically to take notes as she muttered and murmured to herself. Striding up behind her, the King of Ooo goosed her just for the hell of it, causing the evil witch to jump in fright.

She glared at him, for a moment. Finn smiled back, his cold eyes reminding her that, however she felt about that, she better not voice any complaints. The King wasn't interested, and he wasn't in the mood. Nodding at the model, the big man asked, "so... What's this thing?" Choking back her anger at being manhandled, Blargetha burbled, "it's a Grid-Person turbo-rocket."

She had his full attention now. Finn had never seen one of the engines that powered the Grid-Face People's airships like this. He only knew them as long, conical cylinders hanging under the wings. He'd been blown down once when they were visiting Nadia's place, and he'd learned after that to keep clear of the front and rear. Now he found himself almost reaching out in fascination. Of course he stopped himself before his hand had even moved an inch from his side.

"Alright," he said. "Why do you have it? And how did you get it?" "Your android constructed it from its creator's stolen plans," Blargetha replied. "I'm studying it. I have to make it more powerful, and I have to miniaturize it at the same time." Finn's head whipped around now. He wasn't sure what shocked him more–that Bonnie had been stealing from Nadia's people or that Blargetha even had the capability to do what she'd just suggested. Toying with the computer in her hands, the slime-woman was still speaking–as if she hadn't just suggested the impossible.

"I need to rebuild it to use less oxygen," she was saying, "or I have to figure out how to carry oxygen in the flying machine for it to use..." Finn found himself remembering Jake's croak-dream of dieing in the void of space from lack of air. Oh, how time had flown. Turning back to face Sarah's creation, the King of Ooo asked, "how much do you need? What resources?" The fallen princess frowned at him. "I want this done as soon as possible," Finn told her. "What do you need?" With a shrug, she said, "a better computer, for one. Your android won't let me run simulations on its brain..." Decisively, Finn told her, "you'll have it. Within the week." Turning to go he said, "_her_ name is _Sarah_, Blargetha. Get familiar with it. If I find you've offended her..." She shivered at the way he said that.

Finn slapped the slime-woman hard across her broad, curvy ass–a cruel reminder that he essentially _owned_ her now. He could kill her anytime he felt like it. He could kill her for betrayal or for nothing at all. And it was quite clear that he had no intention of letting her forget it. In the now, the big man headed out. He had work to do in his office. There was a budget to get written for the combined kingdoms. They had money coming in, but it wouldn't cover every little thing he wanted to do. Just like the days of living in the treehouse with two fractious wives and three babies, he had to make the money stretch.

Later that same day, the Mertens kids and their strange new friend returned to the camp in the wilderness, having managed to grind out double the usual number of nodes. Fionna had found good stone relatively close to the surface, and so she'd been able to grow her nodes quickly and efficiently. The Grey Forest was almost in sight. Of course, that meant the toughest part of the job was still coming. Fionna had been brutally honest about that. They might be looking at _days_ to get the last node up and running.

In spite of the rigor of the day and the seriousness of the moment, the trio were laughing as Billy rolled to a stop in the middle of the camp. From endlessly digging at Olesia, Fionna had actually seemed to warm to the plump girl, and now the two were chatting like old friends. The mood was so much improved that Billy hated to spoil it. He liked Olesia, and, knowing how lonely she'd been, he was happy for her to be making friends. Unfortunately, with everything on the line and the world depending on them, there was little time to waste on frivolity.

"We need to plan the last phase," Billy opined, as the three hopped out of the truck. They were within sight of the Grey Forest, and that gave them some breathing space. Olesia was most concerned with the massive hole in the south. She wanted to get busy closing the gap as soon as they could. Billy understood her fear. Though they did have Princess Ingrid holding fast south and west of Cocoa City, anyone getting through the opening in the barrier could hit at Peanut Kingdom. They could take refuge in Cocoa City. There was a lot of harm that could be done, and the hole went hundreds of miles. He'd put it out of his mind simply because he didn't have any other options.

"Hold that thought, Big Brother," Fionna interrupted, with a frown. Billy glanced in the direction she was looking and found five familiar figures headed their way. Rags was here. Rags, Abieuwa, and Noemi were all here. At their side were Princesses Nadia and Ingrid. Coolly, Olesia announced, "I'm sure they need you..." And she stepped off, heading away from the looming confrontation. "Cougars rule," Fionna murmured, as she too stepped off. Billy blushed to his hair. He was starting to feel like his dad–getting it from all directions at once.

Coming to a stop in front of him, Ragnhild declared, "we have some news and some things to talk about, William." Not honey. Not baby. Not Bill. William. It felt a lot like getting the 'you've been naughty' routine from his moms. "Ok," he said. "Not here," she declared. "We should go back to the forest. I've rented space there to talk." When he might have argued it, Nadia declared, "Fionna and I will take charge of matters." Nodding, Billy motioned for his wives to get aboard his truck.

As the car rolled out of there, Nadia turned to the business that had brought her here. Scanning the scene, she found her quarry standing next to the elemental girl. Motioning for Ingrid to follow, she stepped off. The two princesses found the pair of younger women talking plans when they approached. The elemental girl feared that William was going to get snatched up and dragged away. She didn't quite say 'kicking and screaming', but Nadia colored in the white space for her. "It's not about that," she murmured. "We need to step things up. The Privy Council is getting concerned about the time this is taking."

From being dismissive, fractious, and borderline rebellious, the pack of pampered princesses had come around to an ernest terror that Finn would fail to 'discourage visitors'. They wanted the whole business squared away as soon as possible, and they were deeply disturbed and unhappy with the delays. Hearing those words, an irritated Fionna retorted, "this is delicate work. Burning down the Grey Forest doesn't help us." Until they had a better way to control the joining of the two Tesla Barriers, the Grey Forest, with its impenetrable bulwark of razor-sharp thorns, was their best option as a closure for the barrier.

Putting a hand to the blonde girl's shoulder, the older woman said, "I _know_, Fi. Come along. I have something..." Striding off, the tall woman cut quite the figure. In Fionna's eyes, she'd always been the most dangerous threat to Simone and Emeraude Mertens' happiness. Her cyborg biz would keep her youthful-looking for _years_ after all the other dried-up cunts were too old to be bothered with the games. And she was fucking _stacked_. Even Fionna could see it, and she was a girl. And she'd clearly been playing the 'long game'.

It was a lot like Olesia. Nadia had just _hung around_, finding periodic excuses to 'drop in' on the family unannounced–usually when Emeraude was away on business. Looking back, Fionna found herself remembering every jealous moment. Back when she was a tweener and hopeless tomboy, she'd idolized Emeraude and her tough, no-prisoners world-view, and she'd been guilty of hating Nadia a time or two when she saw how much it hurt the wizard-woman to see Finn laughing with the cyborg-princess.

_The past, Fi,_ she told herself. That was the past. She had two cute siblings to help raise now. That made the past ugliness a nothing. It was all a big nothing when she looked at her young brothers and sisters. She'd never be alone. As long as she lived, she'd likely never be truly alone. Not like her dad had been.

The quartet strode up to a massive object covered in a heavy tarp. "This my reflecting node," Fi asked? She said it in insolent tones. Nadia chuckled. Throwing an arm around Fionna's shoulders, the tall cyborg hugged her hard enough to hurt. "Breakin' the bones...," Fi wheezed. "Well, that'll make getting the northern barrier finished a snap," the pretty blonde opined, when the tall princess let her go. "Not exactly," Ingrid interrupted.

Fionna's face whipped around. "New plan, General," she said. There was no humor in her voice. "I know we planned to basically make the whole barrier permanent, but the Council sees risk in the current strategy." _She_ saw risk. Fionna could see it in her eyes. "They want it done faster," Olesia guessed. Nodding, Nadia said, "we're going to move this node out to the south-edge of the forest tomorrow. We'll plant it in place to form the closeout for the southern wall. Fionna, you'll... do that thing you do and build us some of those simple nodes to close out the gap. That just leaves the northern opening to get finished."

Fionna howled protests, but Nadia turned to her and said, "the family also looked at what was on the table, and we over-ruled your father, Fionna. You're closing in on the final stages of pregnancy. We've heard from Emeraude how hard you've been working..." Fionna flushed to her hair. Nodding, Nadia said, "you're going to finish these last few miles at a nice leisurely pace, and then you're going home for rest. There'll be time to work on the permanent version of the barrier in the spring." Fionna muttered curses and stormed off. When Nadia might have followed, Ingrid motioned for her to stay. This was something _she_ understood. Science couldn't fix this.

The pretty blonde princess found her quarry standing alone under an isolated tree, muttering to herself. "Fionna," she announced. The blonde glared at her. Striding up to her stepdaughter, the tall woman announced, "you're letting emotion control your thinking, Fionna. I wouldn't have thought you'd still be able to do that." The blonde girl flushed to her hair. "This is stupid," she muttered. "People can get over the barrier right now. It's not tall enough. They can smash the nodes if they have a strong enough weapon..." "An ancient general once said that the enemy of good enough is perfect, Fi," Ingrid interrupted. "We both know that to be true. If you'd taken your time building perfect nodes, we'd never have had a barrier to begin with. Nadia and her people would have taken a _year_ to do just what you've done in the last few weeks." With a helpless shrug, the tall woman said, "we're out of time, Fi. We have too much going on. You know it as well as I do."

Ingrid had been hangin' tight west of Cocoa City 'just in case' with the majority of the army. She'd been holding off on moving on the peanuts in Wildberry Kingdom just in case somebody moved through the giant hole in the barrier. That left the peanuts running amok, doing whatever it was that they were doing. And that was a big problem, with a capitol P. When Fi began punching the tree in anger, the tall woman snatched her up and hugged her. She understood this woman's frustration and the reaction to it. She'd been raised almost to _fear_ failure–like a boy. Ingrid had been much the same. "Ok," Fionna muttered. "Tomorrow morning, we'll get this thing straightened out." Ingrid kissed her cheek.

Meanwhile, south and east of the Grey Forest, Chelsea the Wax Hustler stepped out of a heavily armored truck in the broken heart of a once-vibrant forest. The last time she'd been in this place, it had been a world of lush plant life. She'd been wined and dined by the local artist's community with juicy steaks and whole chickens, and she found herself looking back on those nights with a fondness, as she looked around her at the burned wasteland. She almost thought she could still _see_ the buildings. Her hotel had been over there across the square. The theater where she'd performed had been in the space on her right. The restaurant district was just south of the square.

At her side, Fedir Brutko scanned the scene nervously, as he clutched his rifle in a white-knuckle grip. The place unnerved him. Tens of thousands of Berry-Folk had met their end here–literally dissolved by the horrifying undead known as the Dipped. Many more had been tortured and terrorized before being subjected to the ugly alchemical treatment that created the undead. They'd razed the Berry Kingdom, burning even the soil so that it would never support life again. The burned patch went for _miles_ in every direction. It was a horrifying, ghost-ridden place, and he was anxious to be out of here.

The occupants of the camp they'd come to visit shook themselves out and came out of the camp to greet them. These men came just as heavily armed as their visitors. They came with crossbows and dart-rifles, and pretty much every last one of them wore a sword. You needed that. There were carnivorous fruit-people still in the remnants of these forests. They would jump you, if you weren't careful. They'd jump you and eat you the minute you laid down your weapon.

"Rolf," Chelsea greeted her patsy and dog. "Chelsea," the would-be Peanut-Prince replied. He'd gotten _thinner_. She imagined that they were all on rations. She'd sent him on a bit of a fool's errand because she was fairly certain the treasure of the Berry Kingdom no longer existed. The berries had spent untold sums on their stupid war, and she imagined the remnant being taken by someone with the balls to come here and seize it.

The two stood there a while, staring at each other. It said quite a bit about how things were between them now that he neither moved to greet her nor showed any particular fear. He was clinging to the bottom rung. He was down somewhere at the bottom, and that was a dangerous thing. She needed him to still fear her more than he feared his own mortality. Motioning for him to precede her, she said, "let's talk." Over her shoulder, she signaled Fedir. They were outnumbered here. They might be shooting their way out.

The pair disappeared into the tent that Rolf kept for himself. The interior was a slight bit better than the big empty she'd expected. She was a little surprised to find that there was a chest in the corner opposite the door with little bits and baubles inside it. "The undead apparently weren't all that interested in money," he rumbled. There was treasure for the taking in seemingly every abandoned house or forgotten lot. Much of the city had been razed and rotted to nothing, leaving the gems and jewels right where they'd fallen. His men were slowly collecting what they could, though harsh weather and wind had covered much of what was here and animals had scattered the rest.

Chelsea strode over and stood there a moment, staring down at the chest. "Take a look, if you want," he said. His voice was cold. It was a chill that approximated her own emotional state. Yeah, he was on the edge. "I looked in on your wife," Chelsea said. "Your wife and your daughters are fine. Sabine's run into a little trouble at school, though. I had him killed for thinking of fucking her." Rolf's face was pale as a ghost, when she turned around. "She doesn't know it," said Chelsea, as she strolled back across towards him. "She thinks he's just a shit who's ghosting her."

The murderess stopped when they were toe to toe once more, her face twisted in one of those awful, _knowing_ smiles. Straightening his collar, the murderess opined, "that's the trouble of youth, babe... They don't understand the risks they take. She would have just spread it for that stiff out of _love_. But love is business, right?" A stunned Baron Rolf simply nodded.

"How've things been," she asked, as she strolled over to his chair and sat down? He stood there a moment, stunned to have forgotten the risk to his family. This woman still had power over his family. She was still watching them, waiting for him to fuck up. "I know it's kind of a shock," Chelsea chuckled, "but, hey, you were chasing ass at that age. You know how young dudes are, right?" The would-be prince nodded. Smiling, she said, "I put a stop to it. She's ok. She'll be nice and cherry when you marry her off, right?" He nodded again.

"We haven't found the main treasure," he rumbled. Chelsea nodded. She hadn't expected him to find a treasure. She wanted him on the move and raising hell. "We almost had Princess Ingrid," he said. That _was_ news, and she sat up straighter, giving him her full attention. "My troops found a small unit of soldiers out of Warrior Kingdom," he explained. "Didn't know who they were or why they were here. We killed them to a man. Per your instructions. Didn't find out until later that she was here. She was trying to meet with whatever nobles are left from Wildberry Kingdom."

Chelsea frowned. She'd been expecting them to put more of their troops into fighting the peanuts. She'd expected them to be tied up in their own heartland, while she and Peihong did what they wanted in the east in Lizard Kingdom and in the bandit-realms north of Purple Kingdom. The plan, such as it was, had gone in the ditch, and she'd found herself dealing with a shockingly strong response in the east.

"They're moving the barrier," Chelsea said. "Rumor is that they're going to anchor it against the Grey Forest. I think they're going to focus on you, now." The would-be prince went very pale. Leaning forward, she said, "we're trying to build an army west of the barrier. You need to keep maneuvering. You need to keep them off balance until we can get an army in place..." "What about the men you had threatening the hole in the barrier," he demanded? "Had to use them in the southeast," she replied. "Needed to hit Lizard Kingdom. It's going to take me a while to move them north again." There were no railroads in the east, just dirt road and trackless wilderness. He threw up his hands. He was committed. He didn't have a lot of choices here. They weren't going to be kind to him.

Rising, Chelsea opined, "you'll do well. Take some of the treasure you've accumulated. Hire some more men. I can help with that, if you'd like..." He nodded for her to take the chest. The evil woman called out to her chief henchman. Fedir came rushing in, weapon at the ready. Nodding at the chest, she said, "take it." Slinging his rifle on his back, the hapless henchman rushed across and hefted the heavy treasure chest. Stroking Rolf's cheek with one delicate finger, Chelsea murmured, "you're going to be ok. Want me to take a letter to your wife? Hmm?" "It's better that she not become too involved," he replied. "They might try to lean on her for information." Chelsea nodded sagely. Stroking his cheek, she said, "keep up the good work. I'll be back as soon as I can with more soldiers." And with that, she strode across the tent and out.

She'd been gone a long twenty minutes–and Rolf had been standing right where she left him–when his aide, Ludwig, finally came in. "What did she want," asked the older man? "She wanted to know what we'd found," Rolf replied. Running his hand through his sparse hair, the terrified noble went and sat himself in his chair, finding he could still smell her perfume. "Did you tell her about... the thing," Ludwig queried? "Are you _mad_," Rolf retorted? "I'd no more tell _her_ about it than _him_. We... We need to figure out what we can do with it." Ludwig wasn't so sure. The creature in the dungeon seemed far too dangerous to trifle with. Still, this man was in charge, and Ludwig had hitched his star, so he would follow where their would-be prince lead. _And hope to hell it's glory and not disaster,_ thought the older man.

**The walls are closing in, literally. Billy is about to get some news. And the Peanuts have found SOMETHING in the wasteland that was Wildberry Kingdom. Hmmm.**


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6:

Ragnhild slipped her arms around her husband's broad shoulders. "Still angry," she asked? "Numb," he admitted. He'd been hoping... what? That somehow they wouldn't come up with an agreement, and he'd skate on this whole deal? _Fat chance of _that_, Bill,_ he thought. This was worse even than the thing with Hamest. He had to get married to someone he didn't really like, and he wasn't happy about it.

It was funny, in its way. He'd been one of the loudest voices howling and guffawing about his dad's antics and all the women who wanted a piece of him. It had amused Billy to no end to see the putative King of Ooo dodging women who wanted to take a ride on his pole or his mustache. He'd been on the floor when the news broke about what the Lamprey Princess had done to Finn the Human.

He wasn't laughing now.

The world wasn't what he'd believed it was, growing up. He'd grown up watching his dad, as he did his damndest to raise three kids and take care of two women who were often at war with him and each other. He'd admired his dad for the work he put in keeping a family of five going in a world that was hard on people just trying to make it alone. It wasn't until he was a teenager and almost a man that he began to realize how _different_ his family was. Later on Billy had tried and tried again to spot the point where he began to understand that his family was _different_, but he couldn't really see it. Maybe because he'd _lived_ it.

More to the point, he'd continued to just roll with things even after the realization because, well, that was his dad. Instead of screaming about the unfairness of what was happening to his birth-mom, Billy had gone along with things. He couldn't see himself screaming when his mom hardly seemed bothered by it. Except that now he saw that maybe it wasn't really _Simone_ Mertens who was having all the trouble.

Billy had finally seen what he hadn't recognized before. He'd seen it when he found himself with a child–a daughter–that he hadn't expected or intended to father. He'd seen it when he found himself caring for a woman who seemed, some days, as if she was going slowly mad. Finn Mertens, family patriarch, had given his all for the two broken and damaged souls that fate had entrusted to his care. He'd lived for them–and been abandoned by them. Then, when he got them back, _he_ had been the man everybody put the blame on. And Finn? He'd taken that burden too, as if his wives hadn't walked out on him and their children both.

The hard reality was that the King of Ooo was one fragile man who was slowly getting _consumed_. He was consumed by duty to a world that was endlessly restless and consumed with strife. He was being consumed by his family–by the women who'd laid claimed to him. Fifteen wives and nearly double that number of kids was _exhausting_ for a man who'd only wanted to be with the great love of his life, raise their brood, and live out his last days. Retirement and rest now seemed as if it was never coming for the King of Ooo, and now Billy feared it would never come for him either.

"But you have _us_," Abeiuwa announced. Billy looked up to find the Princess of the Southern Jungle crossing the room, with Noemi at her side. Her eyes were calm and clear today. He'd been seeing the signs that she was getting better–recovering from the awful wound she'd suffered. At the same time, he'd been hesitant–almost _terrified_–to trust that. Settling onto the bench in front of him, the tall princess gave him a sweet smile. As if she could see into his heart, she reminded him, "at our wedding, your father said that we should be each other's strength, William."

It was the same thing Billy's grandfather had told his parents. It was the same thing his mom had so often said about his father. Finn was her strength. It was funny, but teenaged-Billy had often thought it was his mother propping up his dad. It had seemed that way. Finn the Human sometimes seemed like he would get so turned around with all that was going on that he would forget his own name. His wife made sure he had clean shorts and socks to put on under his pants. She saw to it that he and the kids had lunches to take with them. She even packed one for Emeraude.

_You can't explain things you didn't understand,_ he thought. His father had said that. He hadn't understood what was going on in his parents' world because he'd been a kid, and they'd done their best to keep the strife and the battles away from his eyes because those things were hard on children. Now he was older, if not always wiser, and he saw just how much his father had propped up two women who were, in their own unique ways, just as messed up as two people could be–and just as messed up as their husband was.

_He's _still_ my example,_ Billy thought. He was awed by the epiphany. The man he'd often made fun of as a teen–the man his sisters called the big, blue dufus, was still their example. Reaching out, Billy hugged his wife. He hugged the pair of them–Purple Princess and Lady of the Jungles. "Odd-woman out, Ragnhild," Abeiuwa teased. Glancing at Noemi, she added, "there's three of us against one." The Froyo Princess flushed. She'd been slowly working on how to move their quarters northward. There were now three of her co-spouses down here in the hellishly hot south. "We'll work it out," Billy announced. "Even if I have to steal an airship and learn to fly it."

As Billy came to terms with his new life, across the kingdom, his father came strolling into Riley and Teri's bar an hour after dinner to find Velvet on the stage, shaking her banging butt to a thumping beat. Like Bonnie, Lollipop, and Cherry, the sponge-cake girl was a humanoid candy-person. That was where the similarities ended. Velvet had deep-brown skin, a swatch of sticky reddish hair atop her head, and a pair of knockers that would have given Nadia a run for her money. She was of a body-type with his son's would-be playmate, Olesia. Seeing him come strolling up the aisle, headed for the bar, the plump woman put a little more oomph into her show.

Teri's instructions had asked Finn to come down to the club just like it was any other time. Now, as he sat at the bar, watching, Velvet swayed and danced for the losers there in front of the stage, making her big knobs jiggle and teasing them with flashes of the fat nips. They were all men who were hungry for pussy, and Jake had confided that a lot of them kind of wished they were like Finn, with an army of pretty girls to fuck, little realizing how much _work_ that was. While he was wool-gathering, someone snatched his hat off the bar. Finn glanced at the counter and then back to the door that led into the private booths to find Teri was standing there in a familiar little blue dress. Yeah, that brought back memories.

That little dress barely came below her butt. Beneath that, she wore his favorite underwear–old-fashioned stockings with garters in black. Finn sat up and took notice, his pecker starting to get hard in his pants. He was supposed to be fucking her and making a baby tonight. Rising, he strode off through the club, as Teri ducked back into the back room. Every eye was on Finn as he followed the little bartender into the back, Pearl, Tallulah, and Nickie among them.

Standing on the little stage in the lap-dance room, Teri opined, "I thought you might like a private dance..." It was her fantasy. She was giving herself to him as a reward for his saving her life. He'd turned this down before. Now he was going to give her everything she wanted and then some. She snapped her fingers, and a smoky beat began to play. As Finn sat himself, the little nymph began to dance.

The hero watched as she swayed to the music, and he found himself comparing Teri to his wife. E was taller, and pregnancy had made the Huntress Wizard a little curvier with bigger boobies. Teri easily held her own though. Licking her silky lips and running her long fingers up and down her slim waist, she made an enticing sight. Of course, as he looked, so did she. Smiling archly, the pretty wood nymph asked, "like what you see?"

Finn blushed. He always had. It wasn't like he didn't _see_ pretty girls. Hell, Teri wasn't the only girl to offer. After he shut down his dad's assault on the planet, he'd gone through a _hell_ of temptation the following few years. Princesses and groupies had hit on him in a steady stream back then, and it was sometimes hard to separate out which group was which. Grinding her hips in front of his face, Teri murmured, "this belonged to you after that... My life was yours... You know what to do with a pretty girl when you own her, right?" As she spoke, she tore off the skirt and flung it over her shoulder, leaving her dancing there in front of his face in transparent black panties under a corset and stockings. Standing up, he cupped her pretty face and told her, "I just wanted you to be ok..."

"I'm more than ok," she breathed, as she started grinding that hot little body inches from his. He could feel her body-heat. Wood-nymph pussy was some of the best in the world. He knew it. He'd had enough of it. He found his hunger rising for this girl. "I saw your little girl," she breathed. Popping open her corset, she cupped her perfect, perky boobies, leaving him with serious dry mouth. "I wanted a baby, but I want her to grow up like your little girl did," said Teri. She waved those beautiful boobies in his face, teasing him, and he couldn't help thinking of a little nymph-girl sucking at those hot little titties. She smelled really nice. Stepping back again, she slowly danced in a circle, teasing him by tugging at the waist or crotch of the skimpy panties she wore.

"I must be doing better," she chuckled. "You're not talking this time..." She'd gotten better, or he'd gotten thirstier. It could easily have been both. He wanted to fuck her. He wanted to stuff his fat pecker into little Teri until she screamed. He wanted to pump her belly up with a litter of his daughters. In a twisted way, this was liberating. His wives wanted this. They wanted to _thank_ Teri and Riley as much as Teri and Riley wanted to _thank_ Finn.

When she'd gone full circle, she slipped into his lap to give him a lap-dance, and he found himself remembering the last time she'd done this for him. After months of no loving from his wives, he'd been ready to shoot off in his pants. It had taken all his will to turn her down. But now he didn't have to. Teri moaned softly as she felt that huge _thing_ that had conquered all those princess-cunts. On his side, Finn was hard as a steel pipe in spite of all the sex he'd been getting. He was a dude, after all. Grinding her hips against his, the pretty wood nymph whispered, "you can touch if you want..." Finn's face went red hot. Leaning forward, she kissed his rough lips and said, "you deserve it, baby. I'd... I wouldn't be here if not for you..."

Taking his hands, she put them on her plump, pert boobies. Almost of their own volition, his big, rough hands began to stroke her hot flesh. The sexy wood-nymph kissed him again, and, in moments, they were swapping spit, kissing and teasing each other's tongues. "Mmm," moaned the sexpot. He was really good. His hands had moved on, stroking her soft flanks and stroking her hips. Finn nibbled at her lips, then kissed his way across her cheek before nibbling at her elegantly pointed little ear. Her breath came in hot pants as his thumbs tweaked the nipples of her hard little knobs.

Bending forward, Finn captured her hot right knocker in his mouth, and he began to suck and lick the hard nip. Hungrily, he swirled his tongue around her hot flesh, tasting her. She tasted somewhat like E. As he stroked and caressed the beautiful young girl, Finn began to smell that earthy-scent that told him she was getting turned on. She smelled earthy, and he wondered how her titty-milk would taste. Having had a taste of E's, a part of him was excited by the idea of getting this woman preggers so he could try it. Reaching down, he ran the tip of a finger along her crack through her skimpy black panties. His finger came back sticky.

Upstairs in the office, Riley sat watching the proceedings with interest on the security camera. She'd watched the previous time Teri had tried to seduce Finn, and she knew all about Teri's fantasies of fucking Finn the Human and making him her boyfriend, just as well as she knew her own history with Finn. As she watched through the camera in the lapdance booth, the handsome hero lay the beautiful girl back on her back. Taking hold of the waist of her panties, he pulled them down off her sexy little hips, baring her snatch to his hungry eyes, just dripping with her sweet syrup. Finn tossed those soggy panties aside, pulled her legs apart and dove in. "Uuuaaaaah," howled the little wood-nymph as her hips jumped.

The pair had shared their fantasies as Riley used the strap-on on the little nymph-girl. She'd teased Teri about her fantasies as the two sixty-nined in bed on many a cold night. Now she was seeing the real thing, and she was getting turned on herself. Watching the way the big man touched her lady, Riley was ready to explode. The way he teased those little boobies had her wishing he was here to touch hers. Many was the man in the last seventeen years who had mauled Riley's big titties. As she watched Finn work Teri over, she found her own hands straying over her giant knockers, squeezing and caressing them through the material of her shirt. When that wasn't enough, she slipped a hand under the cloth and began to play with them, squeezing them gently and teasing the hard nips.

As Finn went down on her girl, Riley popped the buttons on her shorts, baring her hungry pussy, dripping with her musk. "Shit, he's good," murmured the pretty woman as Finn began to noisily eat Teri out. The big man slurped up the wood-nymph's hot cream like it was a tasty treat, which Riley knew it was. She'd tasted it often enough. "Oooaaah," howled Teri! "Uhhh... Unnnnn..." Her hips were wriggling around as Finn the Human had a taste of her juice. As Riley watched, Finn slipped a thick finger in her and began to run that thick finger in and out of her opening, driving the little nymph crazy. Riley began to run two fingers of her own in and out of her own snatch, imagining that was her. It was going to be her. They'd asked for two babies. Soft moans escaped her lips as she toyed with her big titties while she watched Finn finger Teri's pussy.

Back in the private room, Finn straightened from eating out the hot little wood-nymph. Little Teri lay there panting, her body quivering. "W-what about you," she gasped? "Aren't you gonna?" Face flushed, the big man thought, _yeah, I'm definitely going to._ Finn stood up and unfastened his pants, revealing the biggest, thickest, _longest_ cock Teri had ever seen in her life. She'd taken a lot of dick over her short twenty years. She'd never had a cock as big as that.

Teri gulped as he pressed that long, bad, strong dick against her opening. Closing her eyes, she prayed to Glob. She was about to get _wrecked_! And then that huge thing was driving into her pussy. Teri squealed loud enough that people in the bar likely heard her. "Shiiitt," she wailed as he began to stuff her good. "Mmmm," moaned Finn as he leaned down and started licking and nipping at those hot little knockers again. He started slow, taking his time. They had plenty of time tonight, and he wanted to give her the baby she was asking for. He continued to play with her sweet little knobs, squeezing and teasing them as he thought of fucking his baby into her and getting to suck the nectar from those perky little knobs.

Upstairs, Riley watched as the man she'd hungered for screwed Teri within an inch of her life. Teri was shaking and thrashing, her hands clawing at Finn's shoulders. She would have left bloody gouges, if she hadn't already broken almost all her fingernails off clawing the floor. It was good dick. Riley could tell it was good dick, and she could hardly wait to try it herself.

Downstairs, the little wood nymph had her legs locked tight about Finn's middle, her hips wriggling and jumping as she got the screwing of her life. She _liked_ fucking. She'd never had a problem being a whore. This, though, was the next level. "Shiiit," she wailed as a powerful cum exploded in her mind. The little woman wrapped both arms around him as if holding on for dear life. Upstairs, profanity dripped from Riley's lips as she watched Finn rail the shit out of her girl. She had both her big knockers hanging out as she fingered her own snatch raw, watching the man she too wanted stuff his giant pecker up her friend's now-ruined pussy. "Fuck her," hissed Riley! "Fuck that slut! Bust her pussy so wide open it won't close again!"

Almost as if he could hear her, Finn began to go faster and then faster still, his hips ramming that big thing in and out like a piston. Teri shrieked fit to wake the dead, her hips jumping and her back arching painfully hard. He couldn't last much longer now. Jamming his tongue into Teri's mouth, as if he was going to become one with her, he stuffed his meat in and shot his goo into her belly. Teri experienced a blinding orgasm that caused her to blank out for a moment, and Riley could see from the expression on his face that Finn was impregnating her girl. The former lycanthrope was torn between hoping that he had gotten Teri preggers and an ernest hunger for that to be _her_.

Teri came to her senses to find Finn cradling her hot little body in his arms. He was sitting in the chair in front of the stage. Taking his face in her hands, she kissed him and said, "you can have that any time, honey. Stop by any time you want." She winced a little in pain as she stood up. Yeah, he'd worn the pussy out. She was going to be limping for a while. _But it hurt sooo good,_ she thought. She was a mess, with the evidence of their loving all over her. "You could come upstairs and shower with me," she murmured. Shaking his head, Finn replied, "gotta' get home. Work's waiting." "Well," she said, "we'll see if we have to do this again." She sounded _hopeful_. Finn blushed to his hair. At the same time, he needed to be out of here and headed for home. He wanted to finish some things up and then go look in on Maja.

Outside in the bar, the distracted crowd was halfway staring at the entry to the lap-dance booths rather than at the curvy breakfast-person on the stage. Tallulah watched with interest as Teri's 'special customer' walked out of the back. In irritated tones, Pearl muttered, "apparently he likes wood-nymph snatch, so you'd only be wasting your time..." Rolling her eyes, Velvet remarked, "late wedding present. Boss ladies got the baby-rabies. Asked him to help out..." On account two girls weren't getting each other preggers. Pearl cussed the plump woman, but Velvet ignored her. Her mind was on Tallulah. "Thought you weren't comin' back," she said. The boss ladies had hired a couple gals out of Breakfast Kingdom as replacements since Tallulah was gone, and Teri didn't dance anymore. Maple Bacon was up on stage shaking her thing right now. "Here on business," Tallulah replied. "Not looking for a job, really... Just a little information..."

On the far side of the Candy Capitol, Bronwyn sat down to a late-evening dinner with her father. As usual, the businessman was engrossed in his phone. It was one of the crosses the young woman had come to bear. Kim Kil Wan liked to point out that he was not his father. He was home. He was home with his wife and child nearly every day. Trouble was a provider was not the same as a father, and Bronwyn had become accustomed to a father that was physically present but spiritually absent.

Sitting down before him, the hybrid coughed to get his attention. Holding up a hand, he murmured, "one second..." Bronwyn waited. In the mean time, the waiter approached. Bronwyn ordered up supper, sending the waiter to the kitchen for steak and lobster. She listened to her dad as he argued with their personnel agent about problems in the Grey Forest. "Trouble," she asked? "Barry's screwing up again," Kim muttered. Bronwyn's second-cousin was likely partying instead of getting shit done.

Bronwyn listened as her father laid out what needed to be done. He wanted to make some cash supplying entertainment for the big event that was coming. He needed workers. Barry was supposed to be funneling them through the Grey Forest. "But he's partying," Bronwyn muttered. Somedays she felt like the island of sanity in a sea of chaos. Her aunt was right. Their side of the family was dysfunctional. Kim was the most functional of Lady Rainicorn's children. Naturally he'd married a party-bear. Pat the Party-Bear was barely reformed from her days of shaking her ass in a go-go bar in Muscle Kingdom. Her relatives, who often showed up looking for work, were far _less_ reformed.

"You're supposed to be taking mom on a cruise," Bronwyn reminded him. Kim glanced away. Leaning forward, the plush puppy told him, "right. I'll get on an airship and go out there tomorrow." A worried Kim stammered out excuses and reasons for her not to go. In pleasant tones, Bronwyn reminded him, "I want to be a partner. This comes with the job." The waiter returned with her surf'n turf, and she declared, "you and mom will have a great time."

**It's been a minute since we had some lemons. :)**


	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7:

"He's marrying his son to that musclebound cunt," the wax-woman announced. The ogress knew who _he_ was. It was a reminder of the dangers in Chelsea's obsession with Bonnibel Bubblegum and Finn the Human. That obsession with hurting those two had cost Peihong's brother his life. Still this was news to the Bandit Princess. Interrupting Chelsea's tirade about burning the entire Candy-Kingdom, the ogress asked, "how do you know?" Their agents in Muscle Kingdom had all been liquidated. "They posted advertisements. There's to be two weeks of festivities." "Perfect," opined the ogress.

That set the mad little murderess off. "He'll be busy," said the ogress, "and we'll be moving on the bunker in Jungle Kingdom..." She already had a local agent who was specialized in breaking into impenetrable vaults. Finn and his allies would be partying. They'd be an ocean away when the caper went down. "You're moving too slowly, Peihong," the wax-woman growled! "He's getting stronger! He's getting stronger every day!" Rolling her eyes, the ogress replied, "a time for everything and everything in its time, Chelsea. If I move too fast, we go up against a man who can literally move time as it suits him. I won't fight that for your revenge fantasies."

The madwoman finally quit bitching. Calmly, the ogress reminded her, "the books, Chelsea. We won't have a bomb to lob at the Candy Kingdom if you don't bring me those books. I have a scholar lined up to translate the texts and show us how to build the bombs. I have a chemist lined up who can make us explosives. I need the books to show us the way. You've been putzing around wasting time on the Peanuts. Get busy. Get those books before we get plowed under." "Ok," Chelsea muttered. "I'm on my way west to Turtle Kingdom now." It was a small lie, but she doubted the wench was keeping close track of her movements. "I'll expect to hear from you in a week," said the ogress, as she hung up the phone.

In the Grey Forest, Barry Baines, HR Specialist for Taylor, Rheinhold, and Rainicorn, stood chatting up a pretty nymph-girl. His cousin-in-law's hubby was missing out. While Kim was on a cruise with the ball-and-chain, Barry had been having a cracking good time since he'd arrived, partying late, rising from bed later, and generally living the good life. He had been working on the nymph since he got here. Wood-nymph snatch was best in the world, and he'd been slaying it left and right since he got here. This girl had been playing hard to get, though.

"_Barry Baines_," announced an annoyingly-familiar voice, "what are you doing?!" The party-bear flinched. As the nymph made tracks, the older man turned to face his boss's rotten kid. There was a time he'd had a hunger to bang his wife's second-cousin. With not one but _two_ sets of plump knockers, the little bitch was a fucking sight to see, so he thought he could hardly be blamed.

Of course she was a certified ball-busting bitch.

He'd had no idea she was coming. He'd figured when Pat dragged Kim off for vacation, he'd get himself a vacation on the company's dime. Now this. As Kim's kid came storming across the road, weaving through traffic, he sized up his chances of dodging a fight. Valerie _was_ an official. He could say he was trying to speed up the process.

Bronwyn glared at the idiot as she approached. Men. Always thinking with their balls. "You've only managed to process twenty men through the gates," she grated. "You're behind schedule. TRR needs two-hundred in just two weeks time. Why are you dawdling?" "I was talking to Ms. Augustine. She works for Matron Voletta who controls the guards at the gates." "You mean _Lawkeeper_ Voletta," Bronwyn growled. Barry cursed his slow tongue. Naturally the little bitch had somehow learned who was who in this place. Bronwyn stormed off after Valerie Augustine, round ass swaying rhythmically with every step. Barry could only follow in her wake, wondering if it was too late to take Vivian on a cruise.

They found their quarry conferring with a handful of slime-people, which was odd enough. Bronwyn would never have guessed she'd find slime-folk here. The purple-skinned nymph glared at the wench as she pushed into the small gathering before the gates. "Is there something I can help you with," Valerie demanded? Coolly, Bronwyn said, "my company's factor has been attempting to bring our hired workers through this facility. I demand to know for what reason you deny his request." "This facility has now become a border post," announced Billy Mertens. "It is _the_ border post."

The plush puppy turned to her relative and greeted him with, "William..." "Bronwyn," Billy replied. "What are you doing here?" "I could ask you the same," Bronwyn retorted. Scratching his head at the surprise of this development, Billy said, "I'm getting the border locked down..." Nodding at the slime-people, he added, "these are my troops." Nodding, Bronwyn declared, "then I guess I'm negotiating with _you_..." Billy sighed. It appeared he was in for a _long_ day.

Back in the capitol, Peppermint Butler was deeply involved in his illicit hobby. He'd claimed the empty tower on the southeast corner of the palace because his master had stopped going there not long after the death of Finn's previous incarnation as Shoko. The place had been sealed up and gathering dust for _centuries_. The odds and ends that the long-dead thief had left behind in the space had been of little import other than as trophies until the truth of Finn's existence on Ooo came out. Now they were of intense interest to the necromancer.

The evil wizard often pondered the possibility of using them as bargaining chips with this or that evil entity. Of course, a lot of that had gotten turned upside down with the demise of his protector. He couldn't hide in Death's domain any more. He'd been dodging and ducking some of the demons he'd slighted for over a year now, and that was ratcheting up the temptation quite a bit. At the same time, with Marceline in control of Hell, that was a risky gambit to pursue. A lot of the usual suspects were terrified of the new Dark Lord and would have wanted nothing to do with such a bargain.

Today's business was different though. He owed another magician a big favor, and he was struggling for a way to fulfill said favor without getting deeper in hock with powerful entities that already wanted his soul. He still had some of the deadly Wildberry toxin that his master had collected from the dead clones in the basement. That was valuable. He wasn't happy to give it up, but he needed something to get Holgack the Destroyer off his back.

"So it's true," murmured a familiar voice.

The evil magician spun about to find, not his master, but her strange creation standing there. "Ms. Sarah," the necromancer rumbled. "I'm off duty. Is there something you need?" "How is it that you're always able to tell us apart," the android-woman murmured? Finn could do it, but he'd been intimate with both women. The necromancer chuckled. "You don't have an aura," he replied. "You're like a great big _dead-zone_."

Striding through the secret door, the android-woman gave it a good look. "She didn't give me memories of this place," Sarah muttered. She'd only found out about _Shoko's_ room by listening to palace gossip. It seemed half the servants knew this room existed, though none seemed to have ever been inside. "She didn't want the memories herself," the Butler retorted. "She was a mess for decades after that." "And you're using her handicap as a way to hide your laboratory," the android-girl rumbled. Peppermint Butler rolled his eyes. His nominal allies were developing an irritating habit of blackmailing him.

Sarah confirmed his guess with her next words. She was standing next to the mechanical arm that her creator had built for Shoko centuries ago. It's metal was faded, and the rubber cup that sealed it to Shoko's stump had long ago rotted away. Entropy. "I want to see how you do it," she muttered. "Do what," the evil butler replied. "Don't play with me," Sarah growled. "I'm not Bonnie. I don't have the same emotional handicaps..." "The threat," he rumbled. Her face went hot. Yeah, she was threatening him. "I want to know how you make a portal to Hell," she muttered.

"You already know the answer," the necromancer replied. "You've got enough of the master's memories of Marceline to know about the time Marceline showed her the incantation. Are you having trouble getting yourself to believe it's true? Or is it that you lack a soul and can't complete the ritual?" She was halfway across the room in the space of a breath. Only Finn or Fionna would have moved faster.

"I'm not afraid of you," he said. "I'm done summoning up demons. The game's gotten more dangerous. If you want to go to Hell, you'll have to find somebody else or learn to manage it yourself." Her eyes were hard, as she said, "you're a terrible liar, Peps." With a shrug, the necromancer replied, "I'm a man with problems of his own, Sarah. Things are stirred up right now. Come back some other time. Maybe I can help you then." The android spun on her heel and stalked out. At the door, she said, "this is going to burn you someday, Peps. You can't play this game forever." He chuckled, "I've been playing it since before you were born, Sarah. I think I'll be playing it a fair bit longer."

Her mind still in turmoil, the android-woman found herself wandering the halls for over an hour, barely seeing anyone. She passed French-Toast, startling the breakfast-person in the hall. She nearly walked over one of the maids. She was struggling with something she didn't really understand, and she wasn't sure she wanted to talk to Bonnie about it. Half of her feared that she was _broken_ somehow–that if she brought it up, she'd end up deactivated and laying in that closet again.

She'd hit upon the idea of talking to Marceline–of sharing her fears with the former Vampire Queen. Trouble was that Marceline's visits with the family had become wildly unpredictable. Her father, never a creature of reason or rules, would simply get up and decide he wanted to go play golf–leaving his daughter holding the bag for days and weeks at a stretch. If Sarah wanted to see the Dark Lord of the Night-O-Sphere, she had to go to Marceline in person. _There's no reason that this is dependent on a soul, Sarah,_ she thought. _There's nothing saying that the portal is opened by splashing bug-milk on the ground. If anything, logic says that the ritual is just a way of attracting attention from whatever or whoever does actually open the portal._ She found herself standing in the kitchen in front of the fridge, with little idea how she'd gotten there. "Just do it, Sarah," she muttered. "What's the worst that can happen? Nothing?"

Back in the Grey Forest, Bronwyn followed her second-cousin into a small room within the bowels of the gate-castle. She'd been haranguing the big man for the best part of an hour, and Billy had finally decided to take it off the streets. There was little point in damaging his reputation or hers by arguing in front of the world+dog. They found Fionna sitting there with Princess Nadia, talking in low voices over a rather thick, dusty tome. Billy grimaced at the sure and certain sign that 'New Fionna' was in the house. Bronwyn, for her part, stared wistfully at her second-cousin and her obvious pregnant state. She was older, and she'd come from a wealthy family. And she had no husband and no kids of her own. Not even a boyfriend.

"Ooo to Bronwyn," Billy announced. The plush-pup's face snapped around to his. Billy motioned for her to have a seat. His cousin pulled a chair and sat herself. Billy sat down across from her, as, across the room, Nadia talked her way through a lengthy discussion of materials science with her stepdaughter. If you'd asked the stacked cyborg what she'd be chatting about with this young woman, it would be video games or boys or something similar.

Nadia chuckled, "you're a lot more interested in this than you were the last time I tried to teach you the sciences." "Father won't live forever," replied New Fionna. "I won't have time to learn these things later." The stacked princess goggled at her. Fionna was still speaking, and she reminded her stepmother, "I can't depend on you or Bonnie to be around. I have to be able to manage things if I'm all that's left." Seeing how Nadia took that, the Bad-Bunny said, "c'mon, mom. Don't freeze up on me. I need this." And she reminded the older woman of the day Finn had been left alone of all the people in the Candy Kingdom trying to mix up a cure for the zombie plague Cinnamon Bun had inflicted on the candy-folk. He'd been completely out of his depth, and it was a miracle the world hadn't ended that night.

It was utterly, _ruthlessly_ logical. Nadia had been neutral in the great debate the night Patrick Petrikov admitted to what he'd done to 'fix' his wife. She'd seen it from both sides. On the one hand, she agreed with the young man about the dangers of a wife who scarcely understood that she was supposed to be taking care of herself to protect the baby in her middle. On the other hand, she didn't like the somewhat coercive _feel_ of the whole business. Now, a little piece of her died as she was forced to confront the massive loss of innocence that Fionna had been forced to undergo. Her mouth opened, but she shut it again in the face of Fionna's utterly calm face. What was _she_ going to complain about? This wasn't _her_ body. "Ok," she said. "We're going to get you squared away. This isn't easy for us either, you know." The Bad-Bunny gave her a sweet smile, showing hints of the old Fionna.

Across the room, the prickly hybrid immediately started in on Billy with the same irritating and demanding behavior that she'd shown outside. It was all about TRR and her daddy's money. If Fionna and Star were daddy's little girls, they weren't alone. Billy was happy to give it right back to her though, offering her a sharp retort. "Don't be cunty, Bronwyn," he told her. The plush-puppy bristled. "You're here working this for your dad's business," Billy said. "I'm working this for the good of all the people in the civilized kingdoms. I think that trumps your dad's millions." Kim's only child shut her mouth and stared at him a moment. Then, softly, she said, "I need this, Bill. I want to make partner, and I need to put in work. It's as important to me as this is to you." "Then let's see how we can skin the cat, B," he replied. "We can figure this out."

The dickering went _hours_, with neither side gaining much of an advantage. Fionna and Nadia finished up their conversation and left, headed out for lunch. The hard reality was that Bronwyn really wanted too much. She wanted carte blanche to bring an unlimited pack of question marks through the figurative gates of the civilized kingdoms. That was something Billy could simply not agree to. As the big man was considering just telling her off and getting up from the table–he was hungry as fuck after all–a familiar voice called out to him.

The big man swivelled in his seat to see Olesia coming through the door dressed in her traveling gear. "O," he greeted her. His eyes were all over her, and that made her feel a little warm. It was only when she set her bag down that he realized she was carrying it. "Uh... are you leaving," he asked? It was the sort of unhappy-surprised tone that told her that she was getting under his skin. The plump girl gave him a smile and said, "you don't need me at the moment, and Princess Ingrid does." The big man wanted to hug her. He'd come to like her rather a lot. "I'll miss you," he offered. Smiling prettily, the plush princess replied, "I'm sure you'll see me again. We still have to finish the permanent barrier in the spring, right?" "Sure," Billy replied.

Bronwyn rolled her eyes. Pussy-hound. Why were men so eternally hungry for pussy? His brain had gone to mush the minute this girl came in, and it wasn't like he could even _do_ anything with her. At least if he still wanted to be able to do anything _after_ that. With a warm goodbye, the plump girl turned to go. Billy stood there a moment too long, watching that swaying butt, as she sauntered out once more, and she caught him at it when she glanced back. Unaccountably, that brought a smile to Olesia's face. Bronwyn was all but laughing at him when he turned back around.

Twirling a locking of her golden hair around her finger, the plush-puppy chuckled at him, "you can't even hit it, but you're drooling anyway." Ignoring the jab, the big man said, "I can't let you bring in a horde of people, B. Why do you need so many anyway?" That question, honestly, gave her pause. She didn't know. She really didn't know why her dad wanted so many. "There's a shortage of unoccupied hands," she lied. "You know a lot of people lost their lives in the war." He knew, but he'd thought most of them were in the Wildberry, Peanut, and Elbow Kingdoms.

Calmly, the big man said, "you can't bring in all these people and then skate on responsibility for them, B. I can let you bring in a few that way, or you can sign off on the pack. One or the other. These guys are gonna' have to go out of here with you. They'll have to go straight south out of the Grey Forest by bus on your dad's dime. They're on probation for now. They'll need to carry their papers wherever they go for the next year, and you guys will be responsible for them. After that, they're free to go. That's the deal. Take it or leave it."

Bronwyn thought long and hard about that. This was a risk. This was a very real risk. If one of these clowns did something stupid and decided to hurt somebody, that would be on her dad's business. At the same time, she wanted to make partner. That meant making tough and risky decisions–and eating the consequences. With a long sigh, she said, "ok. We'll do it." "Let's get the agreement written up," Billy said. "We'll both sign it. We'll get the names down of the people you're taking, and you'll be on your way."

As Billy dickered with his irritating second-cousin over the details of how she'd take responsibility for the men her father had agreed to bring into the kingdoms, the would-be Prince of Nuts was dickering with the devil in the ruins of a former factory in the blight that had been the Wildberry Kingdom. They'd found the creature in a glass mixing vat. Rolf had immediately sworn his officers to silence and had the two hapless soldiers who'd found the terrifying thing butchered to keep the secret. The creature had been chasing the some of the factory's now-deceased workers across a platform when his evil powers had dissolved the very structure on which he'd stood, dropping him into the mixing vat. He'd been here ever since.

"Back again," the darkness burbled? Rolf flushed. He'd sworn he wouldn't come back here. At the same time, he'd done nothing to reseal the prison. "How can I trust you," the desperate noble rumbled? Transforming back into his fair face, the evil entity rumbled, "that's sort of on you, Your Highness. I've told you what I bring to the table. I only ask... for the occasional victim. I have... _appetites_, you see." The peanut-prince had done a great deal of soul-searching about this. The idea of handing people over to be _dissolved_ was a horrifying idea. At the same time, he needed an edge. News that the enemy was closing the barrier meant that he'd be fighting on his own against the combined might of four or more kingdoms at once. He didn't have that kind of manpower.

"I need a guarantee," said the peanut-person. "That you won't try anything... that there'll be no attempts to slaughter my people." The creature smiled a sinister smile. He was offering no such guarantees. They wouldn't _be_ here, if this man wasn't desperate as fuck for any sort of advantage over his enemies. These creatures would have told their overlord about what they'd found, and there would be a wizard here in this room right now to slaughter their unhappy prisoner. The very fact that this man kept coming back told of increasing desperation. It was only a matter of time. "I'm tired," the creature replied. "Why don't you come back when you're ready to deal?"

Meanwhile, Marceline Abadeer-Mertens lay basking in the afterglow, having gotten laid for the first time in _months_. She'd been snowed under with work, unable to see her family, and, with Finn and Bonnie both wrapped up in undoing the mess her dad's golfing-buddy had left, she'd been rather lonely. Until today. The surprise visit had found the Lady of Darkness feeling cranky and abandoned. That had quickly gotten turned on its head, with the pair spending _hours_ rolling around between the sheets as if they hadn't seen each other in years. Of course, just as with Bonnie, the wild pleasure of the sex had given way to a strangely bitter aftertaste.

_She_ was sitting at the edge of the bed staring into space when it had always been _Bonnie_ wanting to cuddle after getting it on. Of course she _wasn't_ Bonnie–a little factoid that Marceline had been struggling to get used to. This woman had her old girlfriend's face and mannerisms. She knew how to touch the former vampire in all the ways that thrilled her. And yet she was so damned _different_. "Ok," said Marcy. "You conjure up a portal to hell to see me, fuck the shit out of me, and now you want to sit there and brood..."

Sarah flinched. Sitting up, the Dark Lady of the Night-O-Sphere slid over behind the heavy-duty hottie. With her legs hanging off the bed on either side of her lover, Marceline rested the long fingers of her hands on either shoulder. No reaction at all. Yeah, something was up. Sliding her hands down onto the android-girl's plump knobs, she said, "so what gives..." "Something's wrong with me," Sarah admitted. Glancing at Marceline, she explained, "I don't understand. Logically, I have everything. In Simone and Nadia, I have two of the best friends I could ask for. When Finn's out of touch, and I'm feeling needy, I have Bonnie, I have you, and I have Betty. I'm in the lives of two-dozen wonderful kids... So why do I feel like it's all going wrong...?"

Marceline sighed heavily. She sounded like Marceline herself on a bad day. Putting her lips to Sarah's ear, she whispered, "maybe Bubblebutt did too good a job with that soul-crystal business..." Suggestively, the demoness took a big huff of Sarah's scent, causing the android to shiver in terror. Pinching her nips, the Dark Lady said, "what you feel is the fear of loss that you _know_ is coming..." Teasing the android-girl's ear with her tongue, she said, "you felt what it was like to lose–_really lose_–what you loved the night that shitbag killed Bonnie. You saved her, but now you have doubts..."

Switching to the other ear, as she continued to tease her lover's flesh, Marceline said, "it's the curse of immortality, pretty baby. You won't ever die, sweet Sarah. But Finn will. Those cute kids will. And you'll have to watch it..." It was a horrifying epiphany, and Sarah shot to her feet. Spinning around, she cussed Marceline. "Cuss me all you want, Sarah," Marceline cruelly laughed, "but you know it's true. In fact, I imagine you can't _help_ but know it." The android's lovely face was frozen in a rictus of anguish, telling the demoness that she'd scored a hit there. "You always do this," howled Sarah, just before snatching up her clothes and running off! Marceline's laughter nipped at her heels as she ran.

Picking up the pair of filmy pink panties she'd left behind, Marceline lay back, breathing her scent. Sugary, like Bonnie's, but with a hint of something else. She needed to have a talk with Bonnie about some things. Sarah's _problem_ got put on the pile.

**Bronwyn, Bronwyn, Bronwyn... What HAVE you gotten yourself into? And Rolf the Peanut-Prince is about to seriously fuck up. And poor Sarah. Loss and regret is a bitch.**

**Figured I'd give you guys a twofer since some of you are more into the story than the lemons. :)**


	8. Chapter 8

Chapter 8:

The Muscle Kingdom's shocking offer wasn't the only business Finn had hanging over his head. He owed the Matriarch of the Grey Forest a solution to her need for building materials to prevent her reckless and hedonistic subjects from burning their homeland. It was a pain in the ass, but it was also a promise and a task that would take him away from the unpleasant business with Billy's new bride. Leaving Bonnie and Ragnhild working the details and with his secretary in tow, Finn headed off in the limo to meet Emeraude and her entourage. Cradling his little boy on his lap as Breakfast played around on the phone, Finn did his best to relax.

There were moments where his mind was whirling with all that he was dealing with. Playing with Pomfrit–indeed any of his kids–helped. It helped to have a tangible example in his hands of all that he fought for. When he struggled with finding the right path, it helped to see the world he was trying so hard to build. On the seat opposite him, Beeps was absorbed in her phone or whatever was on it. His eyes fell on the dress she wore, and he was a little surprised to realize it wasn't the sort of stylish he was used to seeing from her. Frowning, he found himself wondering how long that had been going on.

Clearing his throat, he called out to Beeps, "hey, babe..." Engrossed in a game of Prancing Ponies, Breakfast replied, "yeah..." Finn paused. How did he approach this? Deciding to go all-in, he asked, "what's up with your clothes?" She gave him a pensive frown. Swallowing, Finn said, "do you have enough money?" Flushing, she said, "I'm a housewife and a secretary, not a princess..." Finn's jaw came open. Trying again, he asked, "is it this thing with Strudel...?" Calmly, Breakfast replied, "Strudel was right. I don't have a right to use crown money, Finn. I'm a fuckup. I've been deposed..." "B-babe," Finn babbled. "I..." "I shouldn't be sheltered for being a fuckup, Finn," Breakfast interrupted. With a sigh, she admitted, "I'm not happy, Finn, but there's signs I _could_ be. Just goin' through some stuff..." The fallen princess returned to her game leaving her hubby in a state of shock.

The limo cruised for hours across the day, finally heading down into the turtles' coastal swamps. The land became at once more open and yet also more empty. Pools of brackish, smelly water dotted the lands around the road. Finn knew some of those pools ran hundreds of feet deep. Bandits had contested these lands until the Thief King usurped the power of the bandit lords in Oceanside. Penny had sent those men to their deaths in the Lich's name, and now the land was denuded of shiftless men.

It was a strange state of affairs because Finn had lived with the threat of Oceanside's bandits for a fair piece of his life. He'd rescued Turtle Princess and her entourage from the bandits once upon a time. He'd chased down the Baker's Shard here in these lands after it was stolen. A fair chunk of his life was tied up in these nasty coastal swamps. The world was changing. _His_ world was changing. His mind went back to Maja's words. His children had become tools–_weapons_–in a never-ending war to keep the peace. Little Pomfrit might someday be used to secure an alliance or fight an ugly battle for him.

His eyes fell on Beeps, and he saw her, for the first time, as part of the problem. The women he'd been so devoted to as a young man were part and parcel of the problem. She'd done stupid things with the power in her hands, and she'd spared no thought for what her actions did to her people. He still loved her, but that love was complicated by the reality that she _was_ a fuckup. She'd done a lot to harm her own cause.

The King of Ooo found himself searching back through the distant recesses of his mind. A whole lot of his life had been spent fixing the fuckups that the princesses made. Bonnie and Ricardio. She'd fallen for Ricardio's roguish ways and set herself up to be held at knife-point. She'd dissed Finn for not being taken in, but she'd been pretty free with the kisses after he'd snatched her out that jam. A part of him now sympathized with Jake. Jake was right. He _had_ been blind. He'd been guilty of treating women like they really were sugar-and-spice instead of the very flawed people they actually were. _M's right, buddy,_ he thought. _You need to change._

The limo rolled across a bridge and onto the turtles' island home, and Finn refocused his mind on the job ahead. Pomfrit found himself back in his carrier, while Finn went over his notes on what he was doing here. There were several ruined cities in the turtles' kingdom. That was a good place to find quality steel that could be reforged to help Emeraude's people. Steel didn't burn. Many of the old buildings had stone facades that could be harvested. And there was at least one stone quarry here in Turtle Kingdom that had supplied the stone for the Royal Library.

As the sun was heading down in the sky, they rolled up on the Royal Plaza, opposite the Turtle Palace, and the driver got out to open the door. Finn stepped out, leaving his wife to manage their son. The air was damp and close to fetid, just as always. Finn had never really liked the air in Turtle Kingdom. The swamps made it nasty. He'd brought Simone here just once to indulge her hunger to read. She'd never wanted to come back. Betty tolerated it a little better, but only a little. As a wizard, she could access libraries in Wizard City that were just as good and didn't come with the 'atmosphere'.

Beeps took her time, gathering up her day-bag and their son. When she'd joined him on the sidewalk, the big man took her free hand and headed up the stairs with their four bodyguards gathered close around them. It didn't feel as nice as just going for a walk with Simone or Emeraude had in the 'good old days'. It was strange, but he would have been counted a tremendously wealthy man. He _knew_ he was wealthy, with a baker's dozen beautiful wives and more hungry to become his companions. At the same time, his _wealth_ brought complications that he would have passed on.

Walking through the door, he was startled to find Toast Princess waiting on them on the far side. She was dressed in one of her characteristic short dresses instead of the ugly, ankle-length dresses that she'd taken to wearing in the last year, and for once she was smiling. Letting go of Beeps' hand, Finn strode forward and snatched her off her feet before trying to hug the stuffing out of her. "Oh, Toaster," he murmured. "I'm glad to see you." She was blushing a little and glancing at Beeps when he let her down. "What's got you here," he asked?

Glancing at her sister, Toast replied, "doing my job, Finn. I've been hunting up additional sources of raw stock to feed Sarah's food processing plants." Old Finn would have been stumped by that string of choice words. Toast marveled at the way 'New Finn' just waded right on through. "Thanks, babe," he told her, and she felt his sincerity. That made her blush all the more. Yeah, it was still there. Her childhood love/crush for the studliest guy on Ooo. When she glanced to her sister, she was a little surprised to find a smile there. Breakfast stepped forward now, and she hugged Toast too.

Smiling, Toast said, "who's this little guy?" "Pomfrit," Breakfast replied, as she handed across her son. "So cute," Toast squealed! She glanced up to the proud papa, only to find that his attention had been pulled away. Her eyes followed the line of his gaze to find _her_ on the far side of the room. Looking knocked-up as high as a kite. There was little love lost between Breakfast, Toast, and Emeraude Mertens. The news that Finn had ducked the pair of them to be with _her_ under their very noses had touched off a storm of jealousy. "I'm'a take our sweety upstairs," Breakfast announced. "You've got work, honey." When Finn turned back towards her, the eldest breakfast-cutie smiled and said, "you haven't seen her in months, obviously. And I haven't seen my sister. See you tomorrow."

Nodding, Finn took his bodyguards and left the sisters with theirs. As Toast stared, the big man strode across to 'the other woman'. Breakfast put a hand to her shoulder and turned her for the elevator, saying, "c'mon. We'll get caught up." A stunned and disturbed Toast headed off with her sister, as Finn went off with _her_.

In the elevator, Breakfast found herself dealing with the irritant of having her sister absolutely _staring_ at her. Toast did nothing other than grunt and make polite noises the whole way up to the Royal Suite as Breakfast did her best to hold up some sort of conversation. It was an annoying reminder that things weren't quite right in her world. They were _epicly_ 'not right'. And what was Breakfast to do about it? Walk out?

Arriving in the Royal Suite, the pair separated momentarily as Breakfast went into the bathroom to retrieve towels. Her baby needed changing. As Toast watched, the eldest sister went through the business of cleaning Pomfrit up, diapering him, and putting him down for nap-time. It was a drastic change from the woman who had fobbed off the care of her child onto a succession of nursemaids and governesses. At the same time, the sight touched something inside the younger woman. Breakfast actually seemed _happy_. She'd been a distant and out-of-touch mom to Frenchie, but she seemed utterly devoted to Pomfrit.

"Sooo," burbled the younger woman. "I'm fine," Breakfast announced. "You didn't look fine down there," Toast retorted. Smoothing her skirts as she sat down, Breakfast told her sister, "and what do you think I should do, Toast? Threaten to walk away? Do you imagine he's going to leave _them_ for just me?" The younger princess's jaw hung. She had no idea what to say to that. With a sigh, the older woman said, "I squandered my life, Toast. I squandered my life fucking around. I messed up raising my kid. I wrecked our home. I messed up your life, and I almost lost our sister. I'm lucky he wants anything at all to do with me, because I could be alone. If I have to be one of a dozen, that's... that's just how it is."

Moving on, the older sister asked, "so what have you been doing?" "Spent a lot of time in the bad lands in the east," Toast admitted. Alarmed, Breakfast shot to her feet. With a heavy sigh, Toast said, "it's not like that... Even if I wanted to be stupid, those guys wouldn't let me." Sometimes she thought they would barge into the shower if she stayed in there too long. Finn had pretty much said that he wouldn't be letting her take herself out, and he'd been as good as his word. She was coming to terms with where she was in life. "There's starving people a-plenty, sis," Toast opined. "He needs to know that. He needs to know that there's people working to keep it that way." That _was_ news, and Breakfast shot to her feet in alarm.

Nodding, Toast said, "there's more people there than can be explained by what Suadela was doing, Breakfast. I think somebody's organizing mass starvation." Still. Hungry people were a deadly weapon. Scrubbing her fingers through her hair, Toast asked, "when will he be back?" She clearly would have taken this up with Finn Right Freakin' Now! "Tomorrow," Breakfast replied. "He'll probably spend the night with Emeraude. That's... how this works. Those who aren't able to be home get priority..." And in any event, she was recovering from giving birth, so it wasn't like she could do anything for him anyway. Leaning forward, she said, "let's play Card Wars or something. It's been a while." The worries of the world could wait one more night.

Out in the hotel's garden, Finn was doing his best to catch up on things with Emeraude and deal with the latest surprise to greet him. Indeed, he'd been struggling to keep his eyes on her face instead of her middle. His reaction had her bodyguards smirking and snickering as the King and his Queen strolled up and down through the garden, but Finn was too busy trying to manage his shock to care.

E. Pregnant again.

The lady herself was no less amused than her bodyguards. It was almost as amusing as his reaction when she made it clear that she wanted him east of Oceanside decades ago. He'd been in shock and just reacting. Just like today. Smiling more than faintly, she said, "you got me good last time we were together..." Finn flushed in memory. He'd been hungry to see her, wound up by what was going on with the Grey Forest and Peanut Kingdom, and more than a little wound up by Marphisa's antics, and he'd gone at her like a fiend.

As they continued to walk, the King of Ooo found himself floundering a little. Simone had suggested E was just too busy to be bothered with the baby dance. Now they were here with this. Almost as if reading his mind, the former Huntress Wizard remarked, "some lessons never get learned, baby. I was too _busy_ to go get pills. Then, when we were finally alone together, I was so hungry for it, I let you do it to me raw." Finn flushed. He didn't know what to say. He should have _asked_! He was just as big a fool, and he said so.

The wizard woman murmured, "I don't want to talk about that. Talk about something else..." She was happy with her baby. Nodding, even as he struggled to find a safe topic, Finn found himself thinking of her aunt. "Hey," he asked, "how's Marphisa?" Blushing a little, Emeraude admitted, "want to talk to you about her, actually..." Alarmed, Finn replied, "she's ok, right?" He feared Dolf coming back and harming her. Emeraude smiled. It was just as her aunt said. He really _was_ the perfect hubby. After Finn's words in the Candy Kingdom, she'd gone home and cornered her aunt for a long sit-down. It had taken a little to pry out what was going on with Marphisa Baudin, but when it came out, it came out as a flood. The older woman had told her everything–from the jealousy, to the ugly incident with Dolf, to the attempt to seduce her husband. Much like Finn, Emeraude had forgiven her on the spot. It wasn't as though she'd set out to do evil. And, anyway, it wasn't like Emeraude herself was innocent.

Taking his hand, the Matriarch smiled up at her hubby, saying, "yes, silly. She's fine." Puzzled, Finn asked, "then what's the problem?" "No problem," his wife laughed. "You told my aunt that you'd be glad to give her a baby, Finn. You told her that you didn't have the right. Well... I'm giving permission." Finn's face went red hot. In conversational tones, she told him all about what her aunt was going through and all the shit Maddie had put her through over the years. If Marphisa Baudin went through sleepless nights, a lot of it could be laid at the feet of her rotten little niece, who'd been a shit seemingly from an early age. Maybe it _was_ bad blood, but Maddie couldn't stay out of trouble literally to save her life, just like her momma.

"The typical nymph would rather be baked in a pie than admit this, Finn," sighed Emeraude, "but we're pretty shitty moms. We're rotten at raising kids. We think handing them money and cleaning up their messes is good parenting." Glancing up at him, she said, "my aunt's not the first to notice that you raise good kids, baby. I know you're... kind of swamped, but..." Finn sighed. He'd promised. Just like always, he had a habit of making promises to people in distress because he wanted to help them, and it always seemed to come back and bite him on the ass. "I promised," he murmured. Nodding, Emeraude kissed his cheek and said, "thanks."

Leaving the gardens, the two retired to a private dining room for dinner, where several of the Matriarch's Cabinet were waiting, including Clarice and _Gemma_. Making the introductions, the former warrior wizard announced, "you've met Clarice and Gemma, Finn. This is Holly. She's now responsible for the Wall and the castles. I've brought her because we've been sort of limping along with the bridges over the rivers and the river gates. Sarah helped us a lot, but the current gates are falling apart." The rivers were the one place that the Tesla Barrier could be breached. That little problem was his problem too.

Moving on, the Matriarch announced, "this is Prunella. She's responsible for the roads... which are in pretty shitty shape. They weren't great when my predecessor ran things, and my mother hardly helped that." And he already knew Marianne, the secretary. Finn went down the line, shaking hands with all of them. Holly was wary. Clarice's face was pinched and hostile. Prunella was the most open of the string, and Gemma looked much as she had before. She was up to something, and maybe answering to somebody who wasn't here.

Taking the head of the table, Finn motioned for the servers to get busy so they could be kicked out to let work go forward. Gemma found herself sitting with the Matriarch at the opposite end of the table with the others filling in around them. Clarice immediately started in with demands. She needed housing for four-hundred families. Tomorrow. "Settle down, Clarice," Finn replied in a good-natured tone of voice. Her face went hot at being treated like a rambunctious child, but the big man simply turned and started putting butter on a slice of bread. Clarice's eyes flicked to Gemma, who was studiously avoiding looking at her. The former Huntress Wizard found herself amused by the by-play.

As she spooned up chunks of hearty meat-stew, the Matriarch asked, "so how are we going to do this, babe? You know I haven't got much money." She was running down her own personal stash, and the money her mother had hoarded from the evils she'd done was already running low. Gemma said, "perhaps we should start by considering our assets, Mother." Nodding uncertainly, Emeraude said, "alright... We have a few thousands of coins left in our coffers. We have the few arts and crafts our artisans create." Coolly, her advisor reminded her, "we have the pleasure district. We have our new... Royal Charter to sell services..." Holly and Clarice looked at her in alarm. She was asking women to sell themselves for housing!

Every face there was focused on the King's face. Finn was busy filling his plate, and he motioned for them to go on. Gemma's eyes went to the Matriarch's, and her hand found her erstwhile 'mistress's' hand under the table. "Finn," Emeraude called. The big man looked up at her. His face was bland–a far cry from earlier where he'd been terrified that Dolf had hurt her aunt. "I can't ask that, Finn," she said. "Can't you," he replied? "If that's how the forest operates..." Her face went hot, and her features twisted in anger.

The King's expression didn't waver. "I can't sacrifice the Kingdoms of Ooo for you," said New Finn. "I can give of myself, but I can't give of other people's lives, Matriarch Emeraude. The wood-nymphs of the Grey Forest have to fix the Grey Forest. Now. Go on. What resources do you have, Emeraude? List it all. Then we can see what we can do." We. That dangerous word. Backing down, the warrior-woman glanced away. "I have money," she said. "I've got a few tens of thousands of coins left..." When she'd been comfortably a millionaire. She was going broke supporting them.

"Can't you confiscate the treasure of the Wildberry Kingdom," demanded Clarice?! "Those damned sickos are eating people!" "_Some_ of them are," Finn allowed, "but do you imagine I can fix Wildberry Kingdom if I spend all that money on _you_?" Clarice glanced to Gemma, who quickly glanced away. The puppets weren't as clever as the puppetmaster. "Assets," Finn reminded them. "Let's talk about what we have."

The women before him looked like critters caught in the headlights of his truck. Finn smiled back at them. They weren't getting out of here until they'd exhausted the list. Now the women began to bicker, with Holly suggesting that there were plenty of wealthy nymphs who had literally lifted not a finger to help their fellows. She was all for confiscating their wealth. Of course, Clarice, being one of those wealthy nymphs, was not at all happy about that idea. "The Matriarch gave, Clarice," growled Holly! "It's _your_ turn!" Finn sat back and ate, only interrupting the bickering when it got a little heated. E had to learn to control this. He had. Finally, seeing that he wasn't going to fix this for her, the wizard-woman cut the shouting off.

"I don't understand," she babbled. Correcting herself, she said, "I... we... It'll be _years_ before we see enough money coming in out of the Trade..." Which he well knew. He needed them to exhaust all their resources before he could come to their rescue. Much as he wanted to bail her out, he couldn't. With his earlier epiphany, he doubly couldn't. Rather than step to the bait, the big man offered, "you've got one asset you didn't mention, E." Nodding at the ernest woman who often shadowed his wife everywhere she went, he pointed out, "you've got a cadre of well-trained wizards. That's worth something."

Shooting to her feet, the former Huntress Wizard snapped, "I will _not_ become my mother! I will _not_ trade blood for money!" Spreading his hands, Finn retorted, "who said anything about blood, babe? Aren't there other things Wizards can do?" Her jaw dropped. Blushing, the young bodyguard announced, "my old master used to make bank curing diseases..." It was clear from her blush just what kind of diseases her teacher used to cure. Blushing herself, Holly opined, "I know somebody who paid six thousand coins to be rid of a bad dose of rot..." Given her earlier attitude, Finn suspected it was Holly herself who'd paid those coins. Still, it was good information and good money.

Nodding, Emeraude said, "we could open a hospital... We could treat people." "There's sick people through the forest all the time," agreed Clarice. "We should take a bond," Prunella offered. Every face there glanced to the mousy woman. "We can give them twenty-percent profit on the bond," she said. "If we can't just ask for the money, we could borrow it." "What would we use as collateral," growled Clarice? "Our asses?" Stubbornly, Prunella replied, "if we have to." "We have the franchise on the sex-trade," Emeraude replied. "We can take out a bond on that. We can offer franchises to people who will loan us money. If we don't pay, they can open a... house of their own." Finn nodded. It was progress. "Let's eat up, guys," he said. "I'm buying. Eat all you want."

Even Gemma blushed. They were _all_ thin, and there was no hiding that fact or the reasons why. Finn shut down the discussion and sent his wife's bodyguard out for more grub. In short order, there was a raucous feast going on. Finn let it go, sitting back and doing his best to keep them talking to each other instead of deferring to him. As the clock chimed for midnight, the Matriarch finally looked up and realized just how much they'd strayed from the original purpose of the meeting. Finn, who'd mentally checked out, was focused on his phone.

"Finn," she called. The big man looked up with a calm, 'yeah, babe?' "We should go," she announced. "Sure," he replied. Admonishing the others to get rest and be ready to go in the morning, the Matriarch rose to join her husband at the door. Finn shed the napkin in his lap, slipped his phone in his pocket, and slipped around Marianne to reach the door. He was a little bit worried about how his lady was going to take what had just gone down. It was the second time he'd had to do that to her.

The former Huntress Wizard surprised him. She said not a word as they headed down the hall to the elevator, and she said little at all until her bodyguard climbed off the elevator on the top floor. As they walked down the hall, she said, "thanks for doing that to me." The words were hard, but there was no venom in it. "We have to learn our jobs," he replied. "You have to learn to deal with being manipulated." He meant Gemma. She wasn't used to dealing with this kind of manipulation. She'd had plenty of guys try to maneuver her onto her back so they could get some. Now she blushed a little out of embarrassment, but she took his hand and twined her fingers in his.

Having gotten a text from her niece, Marphisa was waiting on them in the Matriarch's quarters wearing a soft, ankle-length nightgown in transparent yellow silk over matching lacy panties. A lacy bra in yellow and black held her plump knockers up, and a blush suffused her features when she caught sight of Finn there in the entry. As Finn stepped into the room, Emeraude shut the door behind them. With a snap of her fingers, she caused the soft glow that had lit the room to slowly dim until it was no stronger than candlelight. Warm as it was, it was a night made for torrid fucking, and the big man found his pecker springing to attention.

As he'd said to Teri, it wasn't that he didn't _see_ pretty girls. After almost wrecking his marriage with Simone, he'd trained himself not to react in spite of provocations. Back in the day after he'd smashed the aliens, provocation had seemed never-ending. At the same time, he'd have to admit to having screwed Simone and E within an inch of their lives after running into something hot and sexy in his travels. Time had burned up all that youthful energy, causing the hunger to go quiet until Nadia's 'fix'. Now, the big man found himself drawn to his aunt-in-law in a way he hadn't before.

One step. Two. Then he had his arms around her and his hands on her round bottom, giving it a squeeze. His lips were locked to hers, and his hips were grinding into her belly. The older woman moaned softly. Then, as she realized where they were and who was with them, she let out a squeak of fear and jumped back from him. "C'mon, donk," Emeraude teased Finn, as she took his hand and headed for the bedroom.

As she walked, she began to shed clothing, starting with the dress she'd been wearing. That left her down to her sexy blue panties and stockings. Her belly jutted out from her middle, and Finn found himself taken with the urge to kiss it. Kneeling in the entry to the bedroom, the King of Ooo pulled his wife to him and kissed the tops of her milky knobs. Working his way across her chest, he kissed every inch of exposed skin until he got to her bra. That proved no real obstacle, as he reached back and popped the catch open. In short order, it was sailing across the room to the chair in the corner.

Finn leaned in and gave the heavy booby on the right a long, hard suck, tasting her bitter milk. As before, he found it strangely invigorating. Working his way down, he kissed her round belly–home of his little girl–before teasing her belly-button with his tongue. E was rubbing her thighs together when he got done with that. "Oooh, baby," she moaned. His magic hands were touching her in all the right places, and when he got down on his knees before her, she knew she was a goner.

As Marphisa watched, Finn had his way with her niece. Shoving his face into her crotch, he began to kiss her, his wet tongue teasing her through the soft silk. The younger woman's hips began to move, grinding against his nose. It didn't take long. Emeraude was horny as fuck from months of nothing. The fuck-session where he'd knocked her up, hot as it was, felt like a drop in the bucket compared to what she needed. With a soft cry, she went over the edge.

The King jerked aside the crotch of those soggy panties and went at his Queen's hot box like a fiend now. Licking and smacking on her steamy sex, the big man drove her straight up the wall. Marphisa found herself rubbing her own snatch as Emeraude's man expertly sexed her, while her niece practically clawed his scalp bloody. The wizard-woman's legs were wobbly when Finn finally got done. Shaking herself, she turned to her aunt and said, "your turn..." When Marphisa made no move, she said, "get your ass up on that bed. You want a baby? This is your chance."

The older woman moved now like her feet were on fire. She did just as she'd been told, climbing up on the bed and laying back against the pillows. Turning to her husband, the Matriarch told him, "make it nice, baby..." Nodding, Finn began shedding his clothes too. His wife moved to the chair beside the bed to watch as her aunt took in the sight of the massively built hunk and his equally massive johnson. Licking her lips she found herself praying to Glob that this worked. While she'd raised a succession of her sisters' children as her own–caring for other people's children on numerous occasions–she'd only _dabbled_ at having a baby herself. She'd never been able to commit to something that was basically a fool's errand for a whore.

Leaning down, Finn began to kiss her again. At the same time, his hot hands roved across her body, playing with those big knockers, teasing her feverish flesh. Finding the catch for her bra, he popped it open, letting him get 'hands on' with her knobs. His thumbs flicked the fat nips, and he ran his hands, palm-down, all over her big fun-bags. The Hero-King nibbled at her ear, his breath hot against her skin as he stroked her broad hips. Kissing his way down her neck, he teased her throat and shoulder with his mouth and tongue, sending sparks of sensation shooting up her spine. A lifetime of nameless faces and anxious johns had accustomed her to rough treatment. The feel of those strong fingers touching her so gently was driving her up the wall.

Her fingers clawed at his wrist as he teased her snatch with a fingertip, while he had a long suck on her heavy left titty. The plump woman moaned and thrashed, her hips wriggling in heat as the big man toyed with her feverish body, stroking her inner thighs and teasing at her snatch without really engaging. Sitting in the chair, the Matriarch found herself thinking back to the first time she'd gotten this. He'd touched her just like this. She'd been hooked from the first moment. More to the point, he'd given her hope of a life that was more than greed and anger. Her mind went to the child occupying her middle. He'd dropped into her life and given her hope of something better. Then he'd shown up in the Grey Forest and done the same for her people. Simone had named her first child, turning the anger and irony of the Wishmaster's Vengeance into something wonderful. Now, the Matriarch decided that it was a fitting choice for her baby's name to reflect what her father had brought their race. Hope.

On the bed, Finn was just sliding the sticky panties off of Marphisa's hips. The older woman cocked those meaty thighs wide, giving him access. Kissing his way down the curve of her belly, the big man hesitated not a moment before diving in. The plump woman shrieked when he did that. It was something that rarely, if ever happened to her. Johns weren't interested in the hooker getting off. The starving, _needy_ older woman went crazy as her niece's husband brought her to the edge again and again. Indeed, when Finn finally let up, she was panting for air.

The King of Ooo put his aunt-in-law's ankles up on his shoulders as he fit his fat pecker to her drooling snatch. Marphisa blushed to her hair as she glanced over at her niece, who sat playing with herself beside the bed. A long, loud moan left the plump woman's lips as Finn the human shoved that big dong into her pussy. He was going to get her pregnant. It was all she could think of. Her niece's husband was going to get her pregnant–while her niece took a front row seat to watch.

The big man took his time, getting the plump woman warmed up as she slowly worked that big dick into her snatch. Beneath him, the plush nymph was going crazy, clawing at his shoulders, wailing and moaning as he gave her a good dicking. Over and over the big man shoved that fat missile into her belly, while he continued to toy with the plump love-mounds on her chest. Five minutes in, he was going full speed, and the older woman really began to wail. Thrashing and shaking as her niece's hubby screwed her within an inch of her life, the plump woman looked like she might well start turning blue.

Finn himself was relaxed. This was someone he cared about. Like Drew. Like Teri and Riley. Marphisa had become as much a part of his world as she'd been a part of Emeraude's. He was proud to help her. And it didn't hurt that the lush wood-nymph was no hag. A part of him wondered if E would age into a shape like this. The thought sent a stab of lust into his brain, and the big man lost it. Shoving his rod in deep, he let his aunt-in-law have it with both barrels. Marphisa bit him on the neck, her fingers clawing at his scalp.

As Finn lay himself down, his wife climbed into bed with them and lay herself down at his side. "Thanks, donk," she murmured. That almost made him laugh. She was thanking _him_. As a well-satisfied Marphisa snuggled up to his back, Finn slipped his arms around E's swollen middle. Hope. It was a pretty name for a beautiful child. He might have worried about his child growing up in the Grey Forest, but now she'd have a sister to pal around with. They'd have to pick something pretty for Marphisa's child.

**Had trouble finding the time to get this done. Work is kicking my butt again.**


	9. Chapter 9

Chapter 9:

Back in the Turtle Kingdom, Toast Princess emerged from the bedroom wearing the clothes she'd worn yesterday–a habit she'd mostly left behind with the parties and fucking around. She was a little startled to find not just Finn but the Huntress waiting on she and her sister. Toast had stayed late the night before, and she'd ended up crashing in Breakfast's space. It had been kind of like old times, when they'd taken over their parents' bedroom. She'd slept like a log. That had changed when Breakfast discovered boys and started trying to get laid. Hurt at first, Toast had actually ended up glad to be in her own room when she went through the change and discovered the joy of sex too.

"Hey, guys," Finn announced. He had breakfast laid out, including a lot of Toast's favorites. The little woman was a little irritated and at the same time a little embarrassed. He was being nice to her. He was being exactly what he'd always been. A good friend. In spite of all the times she'd tried to bang him, and all the trouble her family had caused with his. And it wasn't as if Emeraude was trying to interfere in something. She'd just gotten there first.

"You're looking well," Finn opined. Toast flushed, remembering the way he'd greeted her yesterday. As soon as her butt touched the chair, Finn lay out breakfast. She vaguely remembered learning a long while ago that Finn was actually a pretty stellar cook. She knew he'd cooked for Bonnie and Breakfast multiple times. Simone had confided in various family friends that he'd taught both his first wife and his second how to cook. As Toast contemplated breakfast–and Finn bantered with the Huntress, the eldest of the breakfast cuties exited the bath carrying her son. Finn hustled to take the boy. Then, as he juggled little Pomfrit, he dished up food for Breakfast as well. Only when all the ladies were eating did he sit down himself.

The talk of the day was about visiting rock quarries. Toast listened in fascination as Finn bantered with her sister about what a little heartbreaker Pomfrit would be and chatted with Emeraude about buying stone off the turtles. Breakfast was clearly doing what she could to hold up her end of the conversation when her heart wasn't quite up to things. Nor was she alone. Toast felt stirrings of a familiar sensation. She was jealous of Emeraude. Dare she admit it, she was even jealous of Breakfast. If Strudel was adapting to the new status-quo, her sisters were having a whole lot of trouble.

At the same time, Toast knew there were far bigger matters afoot than taking a ride on Finn's pecker. She'd come here to meet him to talk about the rumors out of the wastes and the things she'd seen. Clearing her throat, the little woman interrupted Finn as he was explaining some of his plans–dreams really. When Finn was looking at her, the fallen princess announced, "I need to talk to you about what's going on in the badlands." Startled, Finn warily replied, "sure..." Toast made it clear this was going to be a private conversation by rising and heading for the balcony. With a helpless shrug, Finn rose and followed.

Finn found his Minister for Sustenance standing on the balcony, staring out at the town,. Shutting the door behind them, the King of Ooo opened with, "ok. I don't like that you go out there..." It was his 'straight-talk' pose. "Hmph," Toast retorted. "It's not like they would ever let me walk into something..." Finn flushed at that hard-edged retort. He'd feared the dynamic between them would become _different_. It had, but a part of him found this refreshing. Moving on, Toast declared, "somebody's controlling the people from the wastes, Finn." Finn nodded. He'd suspected that. It wasn't normal for them to move the way they had. "It's big," she said. "Someone's forging an army." The big man flinched. More death. He feared he'd never stop the bleeding and dieing.

As he listened, the little princess laid out all that she'd seen in her travels. She'd spent more time _outside_ the barrier than inside. That made him queasy, but at the same time it was more useful than Breakfast and her traveling around to sample fun foods. He'd wanted to go out into the wilds himself to see what had gone on there. The Lich and later the Dipped had free rein out there to do whatever they wanted to do. Finn had been focused on saving the civilized kingdoms because that gave the world the best chance to go on. He'd buried his fears and regrets over what might or might not be happening in the wild lands simply because he could do nothing about it. The news that Toast brought him–about the bloodshed and the endless, empty _burned_ miles that the Dipped had left–had him feeling cold and _impotent_.

"The badlands are getting better," Toast announced. "I think there was a hole in Suadela's plan. The lands she torched are still pretty barren, but stuff's creeping in. It's... I think maybe she didn't have time to be thorough." "She had to wreck the kingdoms first," Finn murmured. It would have taken too long to burn the world even with the troops she had. With all the people gone, the undead would have had all the time needed. Nodding, Toast said, "you should start working on colonizing those lands. You need cropland, and this could even help the Elbownians." Thanking her, he leaned down and kissed her cheek. Smiling back, she said, "if you need a princess to run things, I know one who's available..." Smiling at her, he declared, "deal."

Moving on, he asked, "how long you here? We can hang out." It sounded weird coming from the King of the world, but at the same time it was so like him, suggesting that he was the same man. Of course she had no place pressing to be. Seeing friends and family sounded like it would do wonders for her soul. "Well," she said, "I was going to look at some books..." "Ok," Finn said. "We'll join you. E and Beeps like books..." It was nothing like she'd been thinking. At the same time, well, why not? Of course, he had to go looking at rock quarries _first_.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, Drew walked into the stuffy closet where Maja was spending her days to find the witch staring at a strange, glittering stone pillar with a pensive expression on her face. The mood was thick on her. She was a far different creature than the child-like person the doctor had been treating. At the same time, she was shockingly disciplined for a magic-user. Only Simone and Betty had the sort of icy control that this woman seemed to possess. And that cold demeanor did little to make these encounters easier.

Drew had been dropping in to check up on the witch almost since Finn had let her know that Maja was awake. She'd come down here and find the arch-sorceress working on the mysterious project that Finn had asked of her, with Chiang sitting in his high-chair absorbed in various puzzles and games. The little guy's mind was growing at a shocking rate. It sometimes seemed like Maja was _cramming_ things in there–when she wasn't absorbed in _this_.

On her side, Maja glanced back in irritation. The good doctor had been dropping in to stare at her for the last _week_ solid, and it was starting to annoy the witch. She was striking out. Finn was asking rather a lot. What he'd asked of her was edging up on the limits of what she could do, and she'd been hitting roadblocks left and right. At the same time, she _owed_ him rather a lot. She felt that way, though he never questioned or pushed. If anything, Finn showed an irritating capacity to tolerate the endless delays, making her want to slap him. He was emperor of all the world, and she felt like he was _blowing it_ by being too _soft_.

"I'm feeling fine," the witch muttered. "I don't really have time for your examination right now. Come back later." Drew had been using the excuse to come by hoping to broach a topic that was a little dangerous. Given everything that was going on in their household at the moment, it was very dangerous to ask the questions that she was angling to ask. She had two beings in the palace who'd been irrevocably _altered_ by this woman's magic with tens of thousands more out there 'in the wild'. Her scientific mind saw it as impossible, but the evidence was right there before her eyes. Now, with so much going on, the physician felt like she was running out of time. Ingrid was due to lead an army of slime-people against the would-be Peanut-Prince in just _days_.

"I wanted to ask about the spell... or whatever you used on the slime-people," Drew burbled. The witch frowned at the paper in her hands. "What are you, twelve," she asked? Drew goggled at her. "You make it sound like I carry a magic wand and mumble hocus-pocus," Maja growled. She was angry. She was angry about something. The witch was a very prickly individual on most days, and Drew scarcely understood what Finn saw in her. The child-like persona had been very sweet and charming, but 'adult' Maja was cold, calculating, and hostile. Adding anger to the mix ratcheted up the risk.

"Alright," said the doctor, "since I don't want to waste your time, I'll cut to the chase." She launched into the sort of technical diatribe that had, on more than one occasion, left Finn staring at her as if she'd gone mad. She wasn't quite as bad as Bonnibel. She prided herself on not spouting incomprehensible drivel that a layman had no hope of understanding. At the same time, she hoped this woman, with her far-sharper mind, would understand.

Maja listened in clear impatience as the tall woman wrapped up her babbling. Shaking her head in disgust, the witch declared, "you don't know what you're talking about." Coldly, the sorceress said, "there is no possible way to change a hundred-thousand people in one night by altering their biochemical structure at the molecular level as you just suggested. It would have killed me to do that to just _one_ slime person. I used the latent humanoid DNA left over from their ancestors and initiated a cascading evolutionary sequence, using a simple local acceleration of the time-stream to speed the process up."

Drew goggled at the sorceress. She didn't know what was more shocking–that explanation, or the cold way the witch gave it. The witch's expression was almost smug, as she regarded the physician. "You have your answer," said she. Of course that answer brought more questions. "It's unbelievably risky to play with genetic material that way," the doctor protested! "There could be a thousand deadly side-effects..."

Rolling her eyes in irritation, the witch growled, "_Drew_, do you imagine I wanted my army to _drop dead_ two weeks after I created it?" The terrified doctor shut up. Severely, Maja told her, "I'm _busy_. I don't have time for pointless questions. There's nothing wrong with the slime-people. You're wasting time better spent on the children." Swallowing hard, Drew turned to go. As her hand touched the door, the evil woman said, "I'm a diagnosed obsessive-compulsive, Drew. I'm no more capable of half-ass doing something than you are. Does that make you feel better?" Nodding, Drew replied, "a little. I'm sorry for bothering you." "It's alright," Maja replied. "Just don't let it happen again."

In the Turtle Kingdom, the King of Ooo was climbing into a limousine for the long ride out to the rock quarries. He was toting his wife of long years, alongside one of his newest. His sister-in-law and long-time friend was along for the ride. And he had E's annoying advisors squished into the car too. Fortunately, this wasn't the good old days with his two wives and three kids squished into his beat-up old truck. One of the small blessings of his new life was that he had this beautiful car to conduct business, letting him manage this.

The King Of Ooo got pride of place, of course. His bodyguard saw to that. Once he'd sat himself in the car, Emeraude climbed in and settled herself on his right, while Breakfast sat herself on his left with their son in her arms. Toast occupied one of the jump seats on the driver's side, with Holly, Prunella, Clarice, and _Gemma_ filling in on either side of the car. When everyone was inside, the King's bodyguard slid the door shut and went and climbed into the passenger seat at the front.

The car lurched into motion, and the drive wove his way in and out around the early-morning traffic in the town square. The conversation from earlier continued, with the King chatting back and forth with his wives. He was a little surprised that the family had kept the whole 'Emeraude is Pregnant' thing so quiet. "I asked Simone not to say anything," the Matriarch murmured. "I wanted to be the one to tell you." Teasing, he said, "catching up..." That made her laugh. Toast chimed in, asking her sister, "are you going to _catch up_? You're sort of behind with only one." The older sister flushed to her pale white hair. "Maybe," she mumbled.

As the limousine made the highway, headed out of town, their adversary sat behind a writing desk staring out at the six men gathered there. These were the best she had left. Fedir had hand-picked them for the job. Her best men had died down in the tunnels in Emerald Kingdom, leaving her with nothing but the dregs of her organization. The man on the left had a licorice habit. The one on the right drank too much. The remainder were mere boys. But this was what she had. Vengeance was becoming a whole _lot_ of work.

"The books are showing tonight at eight," she said. "We're going to do it just like we planned it." Just like Fedir had planned it. She was coming to trust him a little too much, but she had so little material to work with these days. She'd had no idea just how bad things were until she got down to the business of running this job. Peihong was right. They needed to move this thing along. He only got stronger as they got weaker. "Do you understand," she asked? One breath. Two. The men nodded. They knew the consequences of failure. It was time to get down to business.

The King of Ooo returned to the town as the sun was setting, having had a productive day at the quarries. Most everyone was in a good mood, having eaten well on the trip. Finn had bargained the master of the quarries down to a cut-rate price for his stone, and he'd sprung for a delicious meal at a home near the quarries, leaving not even Gemma with anything to complain of. As the limousine pulled onto the square before the hotel, the gathering was in fine fettle. The pack of women were chattering away in excited and amiable tones, and, for once, the Notorious Huntress Wizard didn't feel like slagging any of them, Breakfast included.

Holding his wives' hands, the big man went up the stairs to the hotel with his mad little entourage in tow. Men on the square and in the hotel lobby all stopped and stared at the pack of beautiful women following the tall stranger as he headed for the elevator, some in envy, while others shook their heads in disgust or amusement at his foolishness. Upstairs, the Matriarch of the Grey Forest sent her coven of annoying councilors to their quarters, suggesting they find things to occupy them for the night. She went upstairs with her husband. It was date night, for the first time in forever.

To Toast's ever-lasting shock, Finn took both his wives and dragged them into the master bedroom, leaving her alone in the parlor with her nephew. The King hauled a somewhat embarrassed Breakfast into the showers, where he had a grand time soaping up his wives' hot bodies. Not that there was any real time for anything more than that. Showered and dressed once more, they came out to find Pomfrit napping in his crib and Toast snoozing in a chair in the corner. "Where we eating," Finn asked? Immediately, Emeraude responded, "there's a nice place you can take us down the street, donk." It was at once a glaring reminder of what they'd lost and a suggestion that, somehow, things hadn't really changed. With Toast in tow, the quartet headed out, leaving Pomfrit with the maid.

The restaurant Emeraude picked had such savory smells that the foursome were all but drooling when they finally got through the door. Finn's stomach rumbled noisily in spite of the fact that he'd eaten heartily at the quarry, and Breakfast teased him about getting fat. Diplomatically, the King of Ooo decided not to tease her back for the baby-weight she still had from Pomfrit–a fact that Toast couldn't help but notice. He took the ribbing of both Breakfast and Emeraude like a man, never hitting back, when he so clearly could have, and the little woman couldn't help thinking that her sister was very fortunate. Indeed, as dinner wrapped up, the King of Ooo bought a trio of roses off the establishment, offering one to each of his companions before settling the bill. Out on the street, Toast found herself glancing back and forth from the rose in her hands to the man who'd given it to her, as the Matriarch asked, "where to now, donk?" With his customary grin, Finn replied, "surprise."

Back in the limo, the King gave orders to the driver to take them to the last stop of the night, which turned out to be the largest auction-house in the town. Toast had only been to this place _twice_, and one of those was with her parents. Standing on the street, both of the King's wives gave him identical uneasy looks. "I... can't afford to go," murmured Emeraude. "The Matriarch can't afford to go," said Finn, "but Finn's wife can do as she pleases." Taking their hands, he half dragged them up the stairs to the door, leaving his bodyguard with the car. Tonight was date-night, after all. Toast giggled as she rushed after them.

Inside, they found the cream of Ooo society strolling around in the auction hall's grand atrium. With his wives at his side, the big man waded right in, wallet ready to hand. In short order, Emeraude came up with a wizarding tome that looked to have been penned four centuries in the past. When Finn paid for it without batting an eye, Toast eagerly started scoping out something for herself. Resting a hand on Breakfast's shoulder, the King said, "your mistakes aren't reason for you to be punished for the rest of your life." Twining his fingers in hers, the big man stepped off, headed for the trashy book section. Breakfast, he knew, had an addiction to ancient romance books, the trashier the better.

As the King walked his wife through the rows of steamy old books filled with pages of buff men loving _vulnerable_ women, hostile eyes watched from the periphery of the crowd. It was almost time. The thugs had slipped into the gathering singly and in pairs to avoid attracting notice. Some had come early and spent _hours_ here. Others had joined the growing lines at the door. The primary action was in the back, where people with more money than sense were going to pay top dollar to buy forgotten books that might better have been left buried.

Breakfast was just reaching for a book–one she'd searched for over years–when gunshots rang out in the next room. Almost immediately, the auction house's hired-guards sprang into action, rushing towards the auction room. That was when four mercenaries who'd been hidden in the crowd opened fire, laying them out as they rushed to the sounds of the guns. A voice in Finn's head argued with him about rushing into this. This wasn't really his fight, was it? The men in the auction hall ran out to the sounds of screams, and still the big man argued with himself. His wives were here.

In the midst of the chaos, the thieves fought their way to the door, carrying sacks of books slung over their shoulders. One of the men clubbed a turtle who failed to clear out of the way fast enough, smashing the butt of his rifle into the side of the female's head. In the blink of an eye, Finn was standing before the man, slicing through his arm with the grass-sword, just before driving his blade up into the man's heart. The mercs, who'd been completely unaware of him until that moment, turned to face the new threat, and Finn squared up to meet them. And that was when Sybil chose to abandon him.

Just as it had at the crystal prison, the grass-sword tore free of his arm. Only this time, he wasn't trying to grapple with a floating platform. The sword had consciously chosen to leave him. The pain of that left him in shock, and he found himself falling. "I warned you," the creature shrieked! "I warned you!" The strange being that was the grass-sword shoved its way through the crowd, leaving him there on the ground. The startled thugs stared a moment. Angered by the loss of their comrade, one of the men leveled his rifle at the King of Ooo. As his finger fell on the trigger, Breakfast threw herself in his way. "You wanna' die, bitch," growled the thug?! But the fallen princess refused to move. She stood there shielding her husband with her body. "We gotta' go," shouted another mercenary. Shouting curses, the angry man shouldered his rifle, as the thugs tore out of there.

Moments later, Emeraude reached Finn's side, finding the two sisters kneeling over him, with an inconsolable Breakfast sobbing in pain and anguish. Toast had to hold her sister back, as Emeraude reached for Finn's throat. "Got a pulse," she muttered. "We need to get him out of here." Finn's phone, which had been buzzing ineffectually in his pocket, grabbed the wizard's attention. Fumbling in his pocket, the Matriarch came up with the phone, toggling it on, as she shouted, "go!" It was the King's bodyguard. In anxious tones, he asked them what was going on? "Finn's down," said Emeraude. "Need you here fast. We're in the main hall... Out on the main aisle."

It took twenty precious minutes for the bodyguard to reach their side. Breakfast shouted at him and cursed him. Finn had insisted on being alone with his ladies, but that hardly seemed to matter at the moment. Being much calmer from her years as Huntress Wizard, the Matriarch took charge, ordering the bodyguard to pick her husband up and carry him. It was a little incongruous for the pregnant woman to take point, but none of the women were going to be strong enough to carry the King to safety.

The vile recriminations began almost immediately as word reached the rest of the family in the Candy Kingdom. An airship got immediately dispatched to the Turtle Kingdom to retrieve the King, while the Cabinet went into emergency-mode to figure out what they were going to do both that night and in the morning when the rest of the Princess Privy Council found out what had happened to the King of Ooo. In the Grey Forest, Billy awoke between Rags and Abeiuwa to find his phone ringing off the hook. They'd turned in early for a little fun between the sheets after having a pleasant evening together as a family. Fighting his way clear of the sheets, the young hero climbed out from between the pair and rushed to where he'd left the phone on its charger. "Go," he answered. As Abeiuwa yawned and stretched, Ragnhild focused on their husband–or, more precisely, the worried tone in his voice.

"I see," he said. "I understand..." There was a pause. "The last two miles of barrier remain unfinished, "he said. "Fi's in post-natal..." Shaking his head, he told the caller, "Apolline's in charge. Gemma went with the Matriarch." The young man began to pace. "No, I think she's trustworthy. Voletta will be angling to go grab the Matriarch, but she'll get shutdown..." There was another pause. "Olesia's with Ingrid," Billy replied. Nodding, as if in response to the person who'd called, he said, "I understand. Grab Fi and get on a plane for home." He hung up.

**And the Grass Sword takes a powder, leaving Finn in the lurch. And now Peihong and Chelsea have their Doomsday Books. Wonder what's inside?**


	10. Chapter 10

Chapter 10:

The airship carrying the King of Ooo landed in a pouring rain at the Candy Kingdom's airfield. It was a fitting day for the mood of the person waiting there. Drusilla Princess-Mertens was in a brittle, edgy mood. Not a word got said as they waited for the airship's engines to spool down. The tall woman was in motion the minute it was safe. The staff fell in at her heels as the rear ramp slowly cranked open.

Drew was already climbing the ramp before the structure had touched down. She found Emeraude, Breakfast, and Toast waiting there at the back of the cargo-bay with Finn. The big man was laying out on a stretcher, carried by two Grid-Face People. As soon as the ramp was down, they began walking down the ramp, bringing their charge into the light. He looked ashen to Dr. Chips. His face was ghostly pale. The tiny wrinkles that had begun to spring up in the last few years looked almost like _canyons_ to nurse Poundcake. Saying not a word, their leader got to work, checking the Hero-King's pulse and heart rate, before announcing, "let's get him into the ambulance."

In the palace, the Inner Council was already hard at work. A blear-eyed Billy sat before the princesses, getting grilled on what he was going to say to the Privy Council later in the day. It wasn't going to be long at all before the various princesses were in town and shrill over the current situation, and Billy was going to be facing them down as the _face_ of Finn's government. That was Cherry's idea. Bonnie had gone into a towering rage when pretty much every member of the Inner Council backed her rival. It was a bit of an insult. She, who'd put together the whole Privy Council, wasn't to be trusted managing it. It stung almost as much as when Finn had been chosen to lead the world instead of her.

Naturally, Bonnie had managed to make his last few hours a living hell. She'd been riding him about just what he was going to say and how he was going to say it. She wanted him on message and on script too. He was the son of a man who was notorious for saying whatever came to his mind, but Bonnie was determined to make sure he didn't think he had the same dispensation. Billy, worried as he was about his father, his sister, and his brother-in-law, was keyed up and doing his best not to blow up in her face.

Rags was doing little better. She'd been up just as long as her husband. More to the point, she'd had to leave their kids with Abeiuwa in the Grey Forest, and she was worried about them. Seeing both the Froyo Princess and her hubby looking as though they were going to wilt, Cherry interrupted the proceedings, announcing, "if you want him to perform, Bonnie, you might try letting him _sleep_. They've been here most of the _night_. We _all_ need to get some rest, or we're going to blow this." When the candy-monarch shot to her feet to start shouting, Cherry went hard at her, reminding her, "you almost unleashed an unstoppable monster on the world because you didn't sleep, Bonnie, or have you forgotten that."

Bonnie flushed to her hair and glanced away. Finn hadn't been shy about reminding her that she'd nearly unleashed Goliad on an unsuspecting world. It was his patented, 'you're not as smart as you think' insult. He'd used it frequently to cut her down to size, not least because it was so very effective. Part of her wanted to shout back at Cherry, but she knew the younger woman was right. "Ok," she said. "We'll meet up again at noon. We'll have lunch just before we go into the council meeting."

Elsewhere, Chelsea the Wax Hustler wiped her nails of the blood of one of her former mercenaries. Her face was flushed from rage. They'd had him! They'd had him where they could have killed him! And these fools had failed to close the deal! The news had driven the evil harridan berserk. She'd killed two of the men before Fedir could drag her off of them. He'd barely escaped getting clawed himself.

It was another ugly event that damaged the morale of the few men she had left. They'd done just as she'd asked. They'd focused on doing just what she'd told them to do. They'd raided the auction and brought her the precious books she'd asked them to retrieve. The whole thing had gone off with barely a hitch. Their reward? Cold murder because they'd not bothered to stop to murder a man they didn't recognize or even expect to see.

"I'm sorry," she muttered. He wasn't entirely sure who that was addressed to. "I hate him," the evil witch growled! "I hate them both." "This will not help you," Fedir burbled. He was taking the diplomatic tack, even though he was going to be stuck cleaning up this mess and disposing of the bodies. He had a slice in the sleeve of his jacket from her nails just now. She hadn't managed to cut through the material, but it was a warning of the danger he was in and a reminder of why his predecessor had always worn jackets, even when it was warm outside.

"I can get the books on a boat, bound for the east end of the inner sea," he said. "They'll go through the pillars and along the southern coast to land in the Emerald Kingdom. Your partner can get them there." Chelsea nodded, her face expressing just how distracted she was. Moving on, he said, "business has been slow with our new recruits." The evil woman looked up at him then. "Things have picked up in the last week," said Fedir, "but we're behind. There was a bottleneck. The sot your friend sent us to help us get our agents through the border was lazy." That immediately had her attention. She wasn't going to be able to raid the wedding if she didn't get men through the border! "But it's getting better," she rumbled.

Fedir did his best not to show fear as he softly said, "we're behind, Lady. There's two-hundred who've gotten through, but the rest are bottled up outside." Striding towards him, Chelsea said, "who's our problem? What's holding things up?" "The Ice-Prince refused to simply let your friend's agent bring in our men without papers," said Fedir. It was risky referring to any of the Mertens clan, even obliquely. It was a strange blindspot with this woman.

Stopping before him, Chelsea reached out and began fiddling with his tie, as she purred, "but you got two-hundred through..." "Your friend's daughter signed for them," he said. Frowning–she didn't really like or trust Bronwyn–the Wax-Hustler burbled, "but she didn't sign for the rest..." "She went home, Lady," said Fedir. She was much too close. She could get him in the face or maybe knife him in the leg with the concealed dagger in her shoe. Calmly, voice shaking only a little, Fedir laid out just what was going on with Mr. Barry Baines. As she buttoned up his jacket, the evil beauty said, "punish Mr. Baines. Make it clear to him what the price of failure is." "How much do you wish to punish him," Fedir burbled? "Punish him dead," said Chelsea, as she turned away.

As the clock-tower tolled the hour at one in the afternoon in the Candy Kingdom, the members of the Princess Privy Council filed through the door, a chastened and nervous Cerilia amongst their number. There were a number of people from the bandit kingdoms now welcomed to the Council, though they had not yet earned the right to vote. As the gathering took their places, Billy the Hero came striding into the chamber from Bonnie's ante-chamber. Taking his place before the throne his father had won, the big man waited, as the gathered princesses found their seats.

He could feel their eyes on him. He could almost hear the questions. Why was he here? Who had summoned them? What was going on? The whole experience left him cold, even terrified. He could wreck this whole thing. His father had managed to hammer the mess the Lich left together into something resembling a whole kingdom once more. He'd practically killed himself doing it, and Billy felt more than a little inadequate to carry the whole thing on his shoulders. He wasn't his father, and he knew it. At the same time, knowing that Drew had pronounced that Finn would recover, he was a lot more comfortable. He was warming the seat, and that was all. Knowing his dad would be back at work–probably soon after waking up–he was a lot more comfortable with this.

"Good afternoon, everyone," said Billy, as he did his best not to fidget. The brand new suit he was wearing was doing nothing to help, as he kept on wanting to scratch at his neck or tug at the sleeves, which seemed to be binding him up around his armpits. He could scarcely understand how the big, blue dufus, who'd worn a tee-shirt and jeans all his life, could be comfortable in this. Billy had managed to wear a tuxedo when he was getting hitched four times–with one more coming down the road at him. He'd been too nervous and terrified at the time to even notice the uncomfortable feeling of the suit and bow-tie trying to choke him. He noticed now. Boy did he notice.

Djanira the Desert Princess raised her hand to be recognized. Billy knew that she was still salty about basically being told to kiss and make up with the Muscle Kingdom when Finn had no defense to offer her. Dreading what she was going to say, the big man recognizd her. Gathering herself to her feet, the strange dessert-person with her sticky, yellow-frosting hair, announced, "we have not been told the meaning of this summons. I had important business, and I was made to get on the train late last night..." It looked like the posturing was going to start early. Billy cut her off, offering, "rumor control, Your Highness."

He could feel Bonnie tense beside him. That was not part of the script. He was supposed to be calmly answering their questions. Trouble was that they had never really articulated just what he was going to do when these women started in like this. The big man did his best to get back on topic. He calmly announced that his father had fallen ill. He calmly told them that Finn was, in fact, in the Candy Clinic just now. Dr. Princess-Mertens was looking after him, and had, in fact, cleared him to be awakened.

"But why's he asleep," demanded Crab Princess?! And that was what got the chorus of cackling hens going. The speculation went wild, with the pack of excitable wenches firing conspiracy theories at each other at such a pace that Billy doubted _Bonnie_ could have followed it all. Maybe Sarah could have. Whistling harshly, the big man silenced the debate. "We're playing on the up and up," he growled! "We could just as easily kept the news to ourselves and let you stew. The facts are that my father is ill. That's life. People get sick. I rushed home to hold down the fort until he's well. He'll be on his feet soon enough. Until then, you'll be dealing with me as the face of the government. Clear?"

Coolly, Belle, the Hotdog Princess, asked, "and the barrier, William? Is the barrier finished?" Billy flushed. That was the dangerous topic. Doing his best to sound confident, the big man explained, "the southern barrier is complete in its initial form all the way to the Grey Forest, where it's been tied to the south end of their Wall of Thorns. The southern section and the heartland are secure." "And the north," Belle pressed? "The north is not yet finished," Billy admitted. "My sister went into labor before she could complete it. The barrier is finished to within two miles of the..."

The room erupted then, with the princesses all shouting at once. It looked like pandemonium might well erupt. From being irritated at having to pay for a defense, the various rulers of the civilized lands had become very interested in that defense. The politicking began immediately, with some demanding that a temporary warlord be placed in charge of the defense. Others were looking to strip the power of defense from the King of Ooo's hands and put it in the hands of a committee of princesses. Others demanded that the Grid-Face people be forced to provide weapons and further technology–a demand that sent Nadia shooting to her feet in rage.

"Shut your damned mouths," Billy snarled! "You're supposed to be enlightened beings! You're going to act like it, or you'll get sent to the dungeon for a few days to cool off!" It was _far_ off the script, and Bonnie shot to her feet. At least she tried to. Both Cherry and Ragnhild clamped their hands on either arm and held her in her seat. Calm returned at the those hard words. Coolly, Billy said, "this is the way things will go. A contingent of the army will be assigned to patrol the wall. I aim to obtain a contingent from the Fire Kingdom with fire-wolves to patrol the border from the air. My sister will be out of post-natal and free to travel again in a month's time. Once she's able, we will complete the last two miles of the permanent Northern Barrier. At that point, we will turn the troops loose to work on rebuilding. Lady Sarah has been working full time on the job of cleansing the lands the Dipped burned. She expects to have a solution within the next two to three months."

"She's a _machine_," howled Raggedy Princess! "Why can't she work harder?!" "Do you want an imperfect cure," Billy retorted? The princesses shut up. Calmly, the Ice-Prince said, "the cure will be ready when my stepmother believes it is safe for use. Not before. You may be dismissed. My father will return to formal audiences when Lady Drusilla declares that he is ready." Expressions of consternation abounded. They clearly wanted more than that, but it was just as clear that he wasn't giving them any more than he'd given them already. One by one, they began to rise, heading out to their cars and carriages. Billy sighed. That had been every bit as unpleasant as he'd expected.

As the princesses filed out, Bonnie turned and strode back into the chamber behind her throne, anger in her very posture. She was already muttering curses before she'd even gotten completely through the door. She was hardly prepared to hear the voice of the woman she was coming to hate once more. "You're taking this hard," Cherry murmured, as she shut the door. The tall princess had forgotten to shut the door. She'd been seeing red. Turning around, fists clenched, the candy monarch looked as though she might turn to violence. "Do you think I do this to hurt you," Cherry asked? It was frank and calm, just the way the lawyer always was. It was crazy, but Cherry might well have been a _defective_ candy-person. She'd never behaved like any of the others.

"Don't you," Bonnie muttered. Striding forward, the little woman said, "you spent too long getting your way, Bonnibel Bubblegum. You lost your perspective somewhere along the way. You still behave as if you're the only princess in existence. Tell me, how would you have managed it? A dozen cities full of flighty bird-brains getting up to trouble with you the only responsible person there. You could barely take care of the one small town you had. Then you have to add in the few dozen bird-brains with crowns on their heads." Bonnie flushed. She was one of those 'bird-brains'.

Stopping before her former ruler, the Lord of the Underworld said, "the one lesson I learned from Finn is that change is inevitable, Bonnie. _You have to change._ We all do." Bonnie's blush deepened. "We have to be a _family_, Bonnie," Cherry told her. "A Royal Family. Not a princess and her chattel." The tall woman flinched as if slapped, as she remembered Finn's not-so-subtle threat to boot her out of the family. "This isn't healthy for you," the little gangster rumbled. "This control-fetish isn't healthy for you anymore than my obsession was healthy for me. I burned up two decades of my life on rage. I can tell you it's a very empty feeling. Whether it's two decades or twenty, rage is an empty emotion." With a wordless howl of anguish, the tall princess turned and ran away, her sobs echoing off the walls as she fled down the hall.

Shaking her head, Cherry sighed. Yeah, that went well. About as well as it had when Star had tried to talk sense into _her_. Spinning on her heel, the little woman snapped her fingers. Her bodyguard stepped off after her. Work done, she had personal matters to attend to. She'd learned to compartmentalize–ironically from Finn himself. Take care of business without losing your heart. Down in the car park, she climbed into the back of a limo–one of a fleet that she'd arranged the purchase of. With her bodyguard behind the wheel, the little crime boss set out for the hospital.

Weaving through late afternoon traffic, they reached the cross-town freeway and took off, bound for the new Candy-Clinic. The big new hospital had been in the works for years, off and on, delayed by the Lich War and the fight with the Dipped. The capitol had long outgrown the old, sprawling complex, but the change was a bittersweet one for Cherry Mertens. She'd visited the place in the long ago with Root-Beer after the zombie plague got ended. She'd gone there again later when she had started down the vengeance road. Beautiful as she'd been back then, she'd gone in for repeated cosmetic surgeries, enhancing what she'd been born with to bend men to her will. She'd given birth to two sons and a daughter there, each time with Finn holding her hand. _But nothing stays the same,_ she thought.

The new hospital was bustling with traffic. People of all stripes were coming and going. It was more even than the old days. Bonnie's capitol had become the Center of Everything. That was what Root-Beer had predicted long ago. As Captain of the Guard, he'd been privy to some of Bonnie's grand plans and convoluted schemes, and he used to tell his family that some day the Candy Kingdom would be the Center of Everything. He hadn't lived to see the day, but Cherry thought he would be proud of the outcome, even if he might not be proud of her place in it.

Her credentials got them access to a secure garage in the basement, and, in short order, she was stepping out onto the top floor of the west wing, walking past cordons of hospital security guards and hostile bananas toting rifles. Heels click-clacking off the floor of the empty hallway, the little woman emptied her mind of her worries. That serenity had come at a hard and ugly cost. It had nearly cost her soul to earn it, and she was still paying the price.

As she approached the door of her husband's room, her cospouse stood up from the chair by the door, her face a mask of anguish. "I'm sorry," sobbed Breakfast. In point of fact, the fallen princess looked terrified. She'd fucked up again! That was how it looked. Instead of keeping their husband safe, she'd managed to come back with Finn on a stretcher. Calmly, Cherry replied, "are you hurt? Is Pomfrit ok?" Glancing around, she asked, "where's Toast?" "I'm here," said the middle breakfast cutie, as she emerged from Finn's room.

Nodding, Cherry said, "good. Go home and get some sleep. Both of you. You look like hell." Breakfast gulped down a mouthful of angst. Turning to her bodyguard, Cherry said, "my car's downstairs. Take them home. See that they get put to bed." She brooked no argument, and seeing her resolve Toast took her sister's arm and steered her down the hall. Taking a breath–steeling herself–the Princess of the Underworld unlocked the door to Finn's room and went inside.

It was just as Drew had said. He was laying on the bed, the covers pulled up to his chin, just like the day the Dipped nearly killed him in Frozen Yogurt Kingdom. Only this time, his arm wasn't withered. It was completely gone. Drew had an IV plugged into his left arm, and sensors taped to various portions of his anatomy, doing their deal of recording what was going on with his heart, lungs, and brain. He was sleeping. She'd put him to sleep, while she tried to figure out if there were any permanent risks.

Strudel had suggested simply snatching Breezy out of her palace and rushing her here. She'd been practically in the car. As if they could just hijack a fellow princess that way. Simone had shut the whole business down. Breezy was already in hock with her miserable excuse for a husband. They certainly couldn't afford to create more instability in the civilized kingdoms for something that wasn't, at the moment, critical. Finn was going to recover. Cherry was certain of that. She had learned a healthy respect for him. No matter how bad things got, he was never quite down and out.

The little woman knelt by Finn's bedside, taking his hand in hers. It was vibrantly warm and alive, just as it always had been. Bringing his fingers to her lips, she kissed them. "We've got kids to raise, honey," she whispered. "Sleep well and awake." Rising once more, the crime boss headed out. Orzsebet was somewhat falling down on the job. She feared she'd have to get involved to track down the toxic twins. And she had to find new directions for the underworld to go now that prostitution was off limits and the bandit-kingdoms were now looking at having to finally go legit. Just like Finn, her pile of work never seemed to grow smaller. But she was going to do this thing because the family still needed it.

**Billy steps up. Bonnie steps out. And Cherry tries to keep the whole thing from coming unglued. And Bronwyn? Well, she's about to go in a little bit deeper than just 'partner'.**


	11. Chapter 11

Chapter 11:

"What is _that_," demanded the Warrior Princess? "Fire-Wolf," Olesia replied. "Phoebe got this one from a pack that's been living south of the kingdom. They're used to trees." He wouldn't be burning everything in sight. More to the point, Olesia wouldn't have to be worried for injuring any of the army's riding-animals. Ingrid stood there a moment, staring at the younger woman, as she cared for her riding-beast. It was a shocking exposition from her youthful _helper_. The hard-bitten older woman couldn't help but think that Olesia might have made a better ruler of the Fire Kingdom than the current king. Certainly, she would have done a better job as a leader than the imbecile currently running the Muscle Kingdom.

"What's the plan for today," Olesia asked? "We're going to finish the sweep through the Peanut Kingdom," Ingrid replied. "There's seven more castles that might be hiding soldiers. I intend to disarm the entirety of the kingdom and leave garrisons on the land to prevent the locals from rising against us." It wasn't anything like Olesia had been expecting. She'd expected that they would be simply riding through the former Wildberry Kingdom, hunting people who didn't belong there. It saddened her a little seeing the hunger and poverty currently afflicting the Nut-People. Still, Billy had taught her that sometimes you had to go through the depths of ugliness to get out the other side. With the rebel army out of the picture, the Empire could now come in and get about the job of caring for these people.

"Be ready in an hour," Ingrid announced in her typical imperious tones. Olesia nodded. She'd be ready. The enemy soldiers typically threw in the towel after seeing her face. That had let them take down eight castles without much of a fight. They'd hardly needed to hurt anyone, and Olesia was delighted by that. She keenly felt Billy's concerns about the loss of life. The world had truly seen enough of death.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, Finn the King awoke to the scent of a familiar perfume. Opening his eyes, he found Drew standing over him with a chart in her hands–a scene he could recall from a hundred other times in his misspent life. "Hey," he greeted her. Face closed, the pretty doctor put the chart aside in favor of stuffing a thermometer in his mouth. He was used to that. He didn't get kisses from this woman. He got this.

"So," Finn burbled, as she looked at the temperature on the thermometer. "How long was I out?" "Four days," Drew replied. "Beating before or after I get out of bed," he asked? For answer, the older woman threw herself on him and cried and cried. It was a side of Drew that he'd never seen before. With his remaining hand, the Hero of Ooo reached up and stroked her short, brown locks. "I'm sorry," he whispered. "I keep promising to change, and I keep failing..." The tall doctor shot to her feet, shouting, "I can't do this! You'll... You'll break my heart!" Before he could say another word, she ran out of the room, leaving him with only with her scent and a painful silence.

As he was pondering climbing out of bed to go after her, Hurletta came in. With a glance over her shoulder, she asked, "what's wrong with _her_?" "Nothing that a new husband won't cure," Finn replied. The Slime-Princess stared at him in a sort of puzzled shock. Calmly–as if he hadn't heard his wife suggest she was dumping him–Finn greeted his Finance Minister. Hurletta sat herself by his bedside, declaring, "you've looked better." "Thanks," he replied. It was deadpan, and it was a little weird and off-putting. She'd only ever seen him like this once before. After the body-snatcher had controlled him. The memory made her shiver.

Turning to his long-time friend, Finn the King declared, "I'm sorry. I guess we won't be going dancing for a fair bit." He had to get himself out of this place, and he would likely be pig-piled with work when he did. "Billy's taking care of it," Hurletta replied. Finn's face snapped over. There was emotion there. Maybe even _worry_. "He's doing fine," Hurletta told him. "He's keeping us all from stepping on each others' tits." That image made him laugh. He knew where she'd gotten that. He'd once blurted out that he had stepped on his dick with Bonnie. It was an earthy saying he'd gotten from Jake. It was a warning not to do thoughtless, _stupid_ things.

Hurletta laughed with him. The pair laughed and laughed until, just as suddenly as he'd started, Finn stopped. "I want to thank you for being my friend all these years," he said. The slime-woman stared at him. "I... wasn't always fair to you," he said. The plump woman flushed and glanced away. "I wasn't always a plump humanoid," she retorted. Taking a breath, she replied, "thank you for putting up with my antics. You were more than kind, and you always let me down easy." The King took her hand and gave it a squeeze. "I don't want to talk like this," she sighed. "Like one of us is going away." Glancing up, she said, "let's talk about where we're going to go dancing when you get out."

The two chatted for the better part of an hour, with Hurletta focused with razor-sharp clarity on talking about _nothing_. It would have been odd to Finn if he didn't understand what she was thinking and feeling. Honestly, he felt those things himself. He wouldn't have been able to say goodbye. That was important to him. He'd always feared not being able to say his goodbyes. Unfortunately, he couldn't sit here chatting about nothing forever. He needed to know what was going on. "What's been happening," he asked?

With a sigh, the slime-princess said, "like I said, we're holding. Billy's doing good work. He had some challenges to his authority early on, but he shut them down. Fionna's raising hell in the infirmary, demanding to be let out. She wants to get back to the Grey Forest to finish the work on the barrier. Nadia's been putting her off. Sarah's... been... _odd_. She's awake at all hours of the day and night. She says she's working on the remedy or cure or whatever for what the Dipped did to the Elbow Kingdom, but we're not really hearing anything more than that. Mostly we've got things straight though."

Sharing a conspiratorial chuckle with him–and blushing more than a little–Hurletta said, "I'm getting good cooperation out of Aysun now. She's handed off all the records for the Emerald Mines. Maybe that hot beef injection got her squared away..." Finn blushed himself. He'd sort of had to admit that happened after Aysun admitted not being on the pill. Moving on, the plump woman told him, "Ingrid's moving on the Peanut Kingdom now. She's been liquidating the remaining castle garrisons and occupying them. After, she'll move against the men in Wildberry Kingdom." Finn absorbed all of that, sorting through all the risks in his mind. From time to time he would ask a question or two, showing he was still the man she'd known from her youth. Finally, it was time for her to go. She had her appointment with the counselor to get to.

Back in Peanut Kingdom, Olesia rode up to the line of departure to find Princess Ingrid waiting on horseback with her officers. Finn had been pretty adamant about getting the world back to the sort of small-scale warfare that had characterized the Peace of the last few centuries. Swords and horses and occasionally a few guns in the hands of the combatants, and nothing more. It was an uglier, more _personal_ form of war, and few had the stomach for _that_.

Turning from her little conference, the tall woman asked the newcomer, "are you ready?" Olesia nodded. In spite of the fact that she'd done this a few times now, she still felt the butterflies in the pit of her stomach. She found herself wondering how Billy managed, when he'd been doing this since he was sixteen. He'd been a regular at it since he was seventeen–a year younger than she was now. A part of her thought that maybe boys did find this easier, though Princess Ingrid was nothing to judge by.

The army moved out, marching down to the latest target of conquest in the Peanut Kingdom. The inhabitants had sent back the envoy, crushed into a box, with the lid sealed on tight in a cruel act of defiance. His people thought he might recover from the injuries inflicted by being squished into a space that was a little too small even for a slime-person, but the message was well received. Castle Harrow wasn't surrendering without a fight.

The Castle sat atop a rocky outcropping in a beautiful mountain valley. It was a sight that Olesia had come to appreciate since coming down out of the burning north. Even though she spent her days now in a strange sort of fear for the risk of hurting or damaging the fragile life around her, the young woman had come to treasure every moment here. The sights often stole her breath, even if she was a little cold just now.

As the army marched into position, Ingrid led the way up onto a rocky knoll, planting the Finn-Flag, as it had come to be known. Born from Ingrid's imagination, the banner was a raging bear on a green field, representing the fierce hero himself and the grasslands he'd called home most of his life. Almost immediately, the tall princess drew her spyglass and trained it on the battlements. Olesia quit her wool-gathering and gawking and focused her own senses. She had her part to play here too. "It's stone," muttered Ingrid. "It's all fucking stone." Even the roof.

Scanning back and forth, she continued to curse and mutter. "Machicolations," she grumbled. "I was hoping for hordings." Hordings could be fired by her little companion. They'd become as much death-trap for the defenders as they were meant to be for the enemy. They would have been, if Harrow Castle had need of them. The castle's owner had been both insightful enough to include them in the design and wealthy enough to afford them.

"I'm sensing fires," Olesia burbled. "Lots of them." Ingrid never stopped her ceaseless scanning. "Big enough to jump through," she asked? There was a real risk there. She always asked, but she never pushed Olesia to do it. The family had come to value the plucky little princess. She wasn't planning to be the one to get the elemental snuffed–not when Ingrid had the numbers to take the castle at one throw of the dice. She had ten-thousand men here. With a gasp of surprise, Olesia broke concentration, shouting, "pull them back!" Ingrid's head snapped around in puzzlement. "P-pull them back _now_," howled Olesia. "I... there's water. I felt it... There's lots and lots of water."

The troops had been about to march into position around the castle. Most of them were borrowed soldiers from the Slime Kingdom, and by now the enemy likely well knew that. Stocks of boiling water meant one thing. They were throwing a bit of a hot shower-party for the slime-folk. While the filthy creatures seemed to have become a lot more resistant to water, Ingrid wasn't quite ready to take the chance. "Pull them back," she shouted! "Blow recall!" The bugler raised the horn to his lips and sounded the signal for the troops to turn around.

The tall woman turned to the elemental, and it was plain on Ingrid's face that this had better not be a joke. "I was touching the fires, when I felt water," Olesia told her. "There was water splashing into several of them at once... I took the risk of looking a little closer, and I think I saw kettles. Massive kettles of water at each fire..." Resting a gauntleted hand on her shoulder momentarily, Ingrid told her, "good work, Princess Olesia." It was a momentary touch, but it made the plump girl feel warm. It was nothing like she'd been used to being treated at school, where she'd been picked on as a fatty.

In short order, the officers were climbing the knoll to Ingrid's side. "What happened," demanded Colonel Barth. "You were walking into a trap," Ingrid announced, in her imperious voice. Nodding at Olesia, she said, "that one sensed water. Lots of it. They were going to boil you alive." That gave the hostile soldier pause. His eyes flicked back to his men. The slime-folk had become accustomed to ducking the touch of water. Their transformation had done little to change that natural aversion. Boiling water might well have killed hundreds of his men and sent the rest fleeing in a panic. They needed a new plan.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, Finn had gotten out of bed, climbed into a robe, and gone hunting his wayward wife. Questions for the guards had quickly brought him to the suite Fionna was sharing with his newest grand-child, Nadine. He found Drew doing the blood-work for Fi's child herself. She never left anything to chance when it came to family, even though it tended to bring her more than a few sleepless nights. The soft skritch of his slippers on the tile floor caused her to turn around, bringing them face to face.

"Here to collect my beating," he said. The tall doctor stared at him–almost _through_ him. Yeah, things were different. He'd really screwed the pooch this time. Testing the waters, the big man stepped towards her. When she didn't run away from him, he took that as a positive sign. Step by painful step he crossed that space, terrified the whole way that she would tell him to stop. Finally, he was standing before her, staring into her pretty brown eyes. Her hair had been getting longer since she quit working in the clinic, and he found himself taking by the urge to run his fingers through her dark brown locks. But there was a gorilla in the room, staring them both down.

As if in acknowledgment of that, the pretty doctor announced, "I handled that poorly." She might have been talking about making salad. "You handled that like a normal person," Finn retorted. Slipping his arm around her, the big man said, "I... can't say I don't like the difference. I think the only other time I've seen you like this is when you were looking for a baby-daddy." She snorted in derision. One had just volunteered himself out of the blue. Finn chuckled, "yeah, that's the Drew I'm used to, but it isn't always a _healthy_ Drew." She stared at him. "You made me face my emotions and my fears," he reminded her. "Maybe you should do the same."

Nodding, she stepped back from him and said, "there's a reason I passed responsibility for you to Dr. Chips, Finn. Things became different when I came to have a dog in the fight. I... stand to lose more than just a patient... It's more even than just a friend. I'd... I'd be losing a defining piece of my life, and I'm just not ready for that. I faced death every day in that clinic, but I never faced the death of someone I really cared for." He opened his mouth to speak, and she cut him off, saying, "don't... You don't mean it. You're not _capable_ of meaning it. I've known that as long as I've known you. I... was a fool to fall in love with a man I can't ever really have."

Those words hit him like a kick in the balls. Nodding, she said, "it's not Bonnie or Phoebe or Simone or Emeraude. We... We're all in this boat. I share my husband with the tens of millions of people across the face of this shattered world. And sometimes... it sometimes feels like those nameless faces own him more than I do." He stared down at her feet, and she knew she'd hurt him. "That needed to get said," she muttered, "but it doesn't mean I want to walk away, Finn. If this is what I have... It's far richer than the nothing I had before this." Turning, she said, "I have work to do." She was closing the conversation–telling him that she needed space. Nodding, Finn turned to go. Standing in the doorway, he said, "I'm always here in your corner." "I know," she replied.

Back in the east, business at Harrow Castle had moved on, and now a pair of eyes stared out at the kitchens of the massive castle, observing the scene with sinister intent. They were making ready to cook up lunch, gathering up ingredients. She'd have to be quick about this. She'd come to learn that there was often water in abundance in a flesh-creature's home and no more so than in their kitchen. She'd have to terrify these people and send them running before they could even _think_ about using the weapon they had near to hand. Taking a breath, the plump princess gathered herself and went stepping _through_ and out of the fire.

The terror struck the inhabitants of the kitchen almost immediately. She'd chosen the fireplace farthest from any water, and she'd purposefully chosen the one where the head cook was working. The terrified man dropped the roast he'd been preparing in favor of beating out the flames on his apron–and then beating feet out of there. He was soon joined by the scullery maids and assistants, who fled the scene in a panic, with no thought at all given to mustering a defense.

She was supposed to gather on clothing when she'd chased off the cooks. That had been Ingrid's plan, but Olesia knew better. This wasn't the time for modesty. If she did what she was supposed to be doing, nobody would be hanging around to ogle her charms. Striding forward, burning feet singing the floorboards with each step she took, the plush princess strode out of the kitchen and into the great hall, where a pack of soldiers was gathered to get lunch.

The gathered officers of the Army of Ooo had batted ideas back and forth at a whirlwind pace, trying out bits of this and that to get through or over the walls without having to risk two-thirds of the army at one shot. Olesia had watched as a growing sense of dismay overtook them. The majority of the army–the _cream_ of their force–were soldiers out of Slime Kingdom. Those men risked horrifying death just stepping up to the walls. There simply weren't enough Banana-Guard or Froyo-folk here to make the difference, and the rump of Ingrid's personal army was patrolling further south and east against the risk of attack from across the water by the mystery army that had attacked the lizards.

They'd twice looked to Olesia for some kind of intervention–intervention that Ingrid had squashed. She'd pointed to the obvious. With its stone walls and slate roof with sheets of lead in places for good measure, Harrow Castle was impervious to Olesia's fire. And while there was every possibility that the Flame King could burn her way through those walls, Phoebe was in hock with her people for the ugly wars just fought, with hard feelings to assuage over her 'absences'. Phoebe wasn't coming personally to help them with this. This was Olesia's job to carry as a member of the Royal Family, if only be association.

Some of the men in the hall stared at her, struck dumb by the beautifully terrifying sight. Others grew instant boners. All got moving immediately when the young elemental set the stoutest of their number ablaze at his seat. Ignoring his horrifying screams–blotting them out of her mind–the plump woman strode forward, growling, "leave here now. Let nothing delay your feet."

Trouble came to Ernst von Blucher's world when the great hall began spontaneously emptying itself of his men. He'd been in a pretty fine mood when the enemy went into full retreat before even testing his walls. He'd imagined they'd caught sight of what he had waiting on them. Boiling water. Lots and lots of boiling water was waiting on the wretched slime-creatures, should they test his defenses. He had fuel to keep the fires burning for _weeks_ if he had to. He'd promised his cousin that he would keep Harrow Castle and block the enemy's advance into their kingdom, and he'd been certain of keeping that promise. Until now.

It took two tries to stop one of the men in his headlong flight to get an answer. That answer had led to Ernst's own knees turning to water. An elemental. Here. Inside his castle. Somehow an elemental had managed to enter his heavy, stone-built castle, with its iron-clad doors. An elemental was roaming at will through his castle.

The lord of the castle found himself rushing around to try and gather the garrison back together, when several of them were actually trying to fling open the gates to flee. That task was helped not at all by the thunderous sounds of explosions inside the castle as the elemental slaughtered any who would have stood to fight. Twice more the Lord had to rally his men. He gathered up the bravest and had them lie in wait with kettles of water to douse their terrifying enemy as the elemental crossed one of the castle's open spaces.

The men waited there, with Ernst standing on the third floor of the opposite building, waiting to give the order. Minutes ticked into eternity, and the sounds of those thunderous blasts trickled to a halt, leaving a deafening silence. It was almost as if they had all _dreamed_ the horrifying event. And then, just when he was considering sending men back inside, the blasts started anew. Only they were coming from inside the manor. With him. The Lord of Harrow Castle turned in the direction of those horrifying sounds. His family came rushing down the hall towards him, with his wife and daughters squealing in terror.

It was inside. With them.

The deafening sounds of those blasts came closer, and his daughters squealed in panic, even as his son reported that his soldiers had thrown back the gates and fled. They'd abandoned the water-kettles and everything else, shedding armor and weapons both, and fled. He could hear the sounds of those brave enough to stand, as they met their fate. Floor by floor, the creature moved up into the manor, though fewer and fewer stood in opposition. Finally the last and most loyal of the guards burst into the chamber where the Lord stood with his family, with death not far behind. Indeed, Ernst moved forward, drawing his useless sword and pistol, prepared to sell his life for his family as an ominous glow lit the hallway outside, marking the appearance of their foe.

_She_ was utterly beautiful, with heavy, yet _perfect_ breasts that swayed with each and every step, broad hips that wig-wagged back and forth, and even a dainty cleft that seemed too small for her ripe curves. Her pretty face suggested youth, and her burning gaze was sharp. She was utterly beautiful, which added to the incongruous irony of a naked woman with hair afire striding down his hallway casually setting fire to any of his guards who dared to get in her way. The courage of two of the Lord's men melted. One dared to actually hold his wife as a shield.

The burning woman set fire to that man's hair, causing him to go diving out the window, screaming as he fell. The plump peanut-woman fell in a faint. Shaking off his shock–and the massive boner tenting his pants–the Lord rushed forward, shouting for his guards to follow. Forming a slim blade of flame, the elemental woman turned his blow and drove her blade up to the hilt in the Lord's chest. Indeed, the handful of men who opposed her met a similar fate, as she killed them with ease, right up until the young boy threw a glass of water at her face. In a haze of pain, Olesia reflexively burned him right to the floor, only realizing when the cobwebs cleared from her mind that he was only a child. Shocking the two young girls, the plump woman then knelt at the child's side and gave vent to a horrified wailing that curdled their blood.

In the Wildberry Kingdom, the self-proclaimed Prince Peanut, woke from an uneasy sleep. He'd been having a horrid dream of Finn the Human dangling him over the glass pit in the old factory. The evil being in the pit was leering up at him, laughing at him and all but salivating over the prospect of being _fed_. He'd awakened as the King of Ooo pronounced his sentence as _death_ for his treason. Now his mind struggled to put the terrors of the night back in their place, as his eyes adjusted to the dim interior of his tent.

It was Ludwig that had awakened him. Ludwig was at the entry of his tent, a pensive frown on his face. Bad news. It was certainly bad news. Crawling from between the sheets, the formerly plump peanut-person stood there a moment, rubbing his eyes and scratching. He'd not been sleeping well, and when exhaustion had come up on him in the middle of the day, he'd just gone with the flow. He was worried about his lands. He was worried about his wife. He was worried about his daughters and niece. They were at risk in the hands of Finn the Human, and, though the blonde ape had never showed a willingness to harm innocents, there was always a first time for everything. "Alright," muttered the prickly peanut, "what is it now, Ludwig?"

His fellow noble announced, "Harrow's fallen, sire." Rolf, who'd been reaching for a pitcher of water, dropped his cup on the floor in shock. Harrow Castle was his strongest fortification. He'd expected the castle to hold for days, even with an elemental positioned against them. The stone walls and slate roof should have repelled fire. _Unless the ape has now decided it's fair game to use those dreadful _things_ against righteous people,_ he thought. He'd always been terrified that the dreadful warlord the idiot princesses had appointed would do such a thing. He was a _man_. He _knew_ how seductive power could be. He wouldn't have hesitated a moment to deploy a couple of those machines to liquidate an inconvenient enemy.

His eyes flicked to the direction where the ruined factory lay. Ludwig knew what he was looking at. "Sire," he rumbled. "You would lose your soul..." "If he can take Harrow, Ludwig," the Peanut-Prince muttered. "We don't know what happened," his lieutenant replied. "Let us endeavor to find out..." "I need an edge," Rolf growled. "I need something. Chelsea's pipe-dreams of super-weapons won't keep us alive. When they've finished our kingdom, they'll be _here_, Ludwig." "Just let me find out what's going on," the older man insisted. "Ok," muttered Rolf.

Late that evening, after hours spent cleaning up the mess, the Warrior Princess found her young charge sitting beside the fire that she would likely go to be in. She'd been there for hours–really since she'd come back from the castle. Ingrid had seen this before. The younger woman was in a profound state of grief over the things she'd seen and done. That was the great terror of war. Even did you come back with no physical hurts, you often came back with terrors of the mind that were much harder to ease.

"You're upset," burbled Ingrid. Olesia looked up from her pensive stirring of the fire. Her expression suggested that the tall woman was intruding. Squatting beside her, the tall woman opened with, "you're not a soldier. This is the life I was born into. I don't expect you to like it..." "It's the cost of war," the plump woman interrupted. "A third of the men in my family are soldiers. I know what war is like." The tall woman's expression said it all. Princess Ingrid didn't quite believe her. "This is why I agreed to do this...," Olesia murmured. "The cost of war has to be paid, but I aim to reduce it to the barest minimum I can manage. I accept that war is needed to preserve the peace, but I take no joy of it." Looking up at the older woman, she said, "I _will_ mourn for those I have to murder. It's part of who I am, but I will keep going because this has to be ended so the world can see peace again."

Nodding, Ingrid stood up, announcing, "fair enough, Princess Olesia. For what it's worth, I think you'd be a worthy member of this family." Slapping the young woman on the shoulder with her heavy iron glove, the tall woman turned to go. She left an embarrassed Olesia Okonski staring at her back. What did _that_ mean? Did she know about the younger woman's dream? Was she saying that Olesia should _pursue_ William? The thought made the young princess giddy.

In the Grey Forest, Barry Baines had his mouth wrapped around the plump, suckable titty of Ms. Darcy Abel. Valerie Augustine had gotten a bit of an attitude after the ugly confrontation with his wife's second cousin. Ball-Busting Bronwyn had been a bit of a terror and a shit after she had an agreement signed with Billy the Human, and she'd ridden Valerie like a flea on a dog to get her daddy's _employees_ through the forest and out the other side. The wood-nymph had gone into a snit over the whole thing, and she'd basically told Barry to go fuck himself.

Of course, there was plenty of other wood-nymph snatch to be had here. They were practically giving it away for _free_! A nice steak dinner. A little wine. They'd be your friend for life! Barry had settled on Valerie's assistant, Darcy, who was hot to trot for a little of the cash Barry had been flashing at her boss. It had taken a little while to seal the deal, but once he'd gotten the little bitch on her back, she'd been an animal for it. Indeed, after dinner tonight, she'd basically torn his clothes off when they got back to her place. She'd thrown him on his back and proceeded to ride him like a bucking horse.

They'd gone two for two already, and Barry was into it, ready to go one more round. He had his hands all over that hot little body, stroking her curves and feeling those hot little knobs of hers. They weren't the big knockers his wife, Vivian, had, but they looked dynamite on the little wood-nymph. He was ready to shoot off when the door burst inward, admitting three burly humanoids.

A blue-skinned fellow leveled a hand-crossbow and shot Darcy in the back of the head, killing her instantly. As the little woman fell forward onto him, Barry freaked, backpedaling and crawling out from under her corpse. One of the killers simply strode forward, grabbed her by the hair and hurled the body on the floor. The man with the crossbow handed it aside to the third man, as he announced, "you've not been performing as you should, Mr. Baines." "J-j-jeez," howled Barry, as he took in the sight of the corpse and the men surrounding him. "You've been wasting time," declared Fedir Brutko. Spitting on the corpse, he added, "fucking whores instead of working." "W-what," Barry babbled?

Rolling his eyes, Fedir demanded, "do you know why you're here?" "W-what," Barry gobbled? His eyes were alive with terror. "Do you remember what you're supposed to be doing here," Fedir elaborated? "W-what," Barry responded? "Where are you from," Fedir demanded? "W-what," Barry gobbled? "Do they speak common in 'What'," asked one of the other men? "W-what," Barry babbled? "Common," growled Fedir! "Do you speak it, motherfucker?" "W-what," gobbled Barry? Hard eyes narrowing on the hapless patsy, the mercenary drew a silvery short-sword from under his coat and growled, "say 'what' again! I dare you!" Nodding, Barry said, "I-I speak common..." "You were supposed to bring the men who came to you here through the barrier," Fedir growled.

Changing tacks, he said, "let me ask you, do you remember Lady Chelsea?" "Y-yes," Barry gobbled. Nodding to himself, Fedir demanded, "does she look like a low-class whore?" "W-what," Barry babbled? The mercenary stabbed him in the shoulder, causing him to howl in pain. "Nooo," Barry howled! "No! S-she's a rich opera singer!" "Then why did you try to fuck her like a whore," Fedir demanded? "W-w... Nooo... I swear...," Barry pleaded! "You were _supposed_ to be bringing in eighty men a day," Fedir growled! "You brought in _zero_." "I'll fix it," Barry howled! "I swear! I'll get it done!" "Nighty-night, fucko," Fedir rumbled, as he began to stab the fool. Both his companions stepped forward and plunged their swords into the hapless party-bear. They stabbed him again and again and again, spattering blood everywhere. He was moaning softly when they were done, his eyes wide with shock. Leveling the little crossbow at the spot between his eyes, Fedir shot him dead. Without another word, the trio left, shutting the door behind them. A little cash to the landlady, and the visitors were quickly and easily forgotten.

**Finn's in hock with the wives. Olesia goes balls-out to win. And a gratuitous Pulp Fiction reference. :)**


	12. Chapter 12

Chapter 12:

Down in the depths of the Candy Palace, the Princess of the Underworld sat going over her tax filings with a fine-tooth comb. It was ironic, in its way. She, who was breaking every law in the book, was working on her taxes and worrying that she'd fail to make everything work out. It was necessary work, though. She had defended several members of the Candy Kingdom mafia from tax-evasion charges from time to time. That was how she had come to be so involved with them in the first place.

Bonnie was known to go after her little citizens when they got out of pocket. Going after tax-filings had become a go-to against the kingdom's few real criminals. Given that she was now in hock with the nasty little tyrant, Cherry would scarcely have put it past Bonnie to go after her for her more _creative_ tax filings. It would suit Bonnie's hunger to punish anyone who wronged her to jail a fellow princess for tax-evasion. Fortunately, the crime-lord had long ago learned the best ways to work around the system. All her money was 'earned' in other kingdoms. It was earned outside of the Candy Kingdom on 'investments' and then 'repatriated' to pay the taxes.

A little bit of noise from outside her door alerted the little gangster that she had a visitor. Reaching under the desk, she fingered the sawed-off candy-cane concealed there, as she consulted the monitor in the corner to see who had come calling. The little woman frowned at the sight of Breakfast fidgeting at her door before finally seeming to come to the decision to knock. "Come," Cherry announced. The nervous ninny almost jumped back from the door, causing the evil beauty to roll her eyes in disgust.

Timidly, the fallen princess edged in around the door, looking terrified. "Mrs. Mertens," Cherry greeted her in her typical sardonic tones. Breakfast glanced down, then back up. "Look," she said. "I... I'm sorry... I..." "Sorry for what," Cherry replied? The breakfast-person's expression said it all. Cherry made her say it. "I fucked up," Breakfast babbled. "I... I got Finn hurt..." "You _do_ realize who our husband is, right," Cherry interrupted? The fallen princess stared at her.

Sitting back in her chair, the gangster said, "a man who was known to me shoved a pistol in my face at the bargaining table. I barely had time to realize that I was about to die. Finn cut his hand off at the wrist and shot his friends with the gun he'd been holding. Over me. A dirty gangster. That's the kind of man he is. It's _reflexive_. He doesn't have a _choice_, Mrs. Mertens." Breakfast glanced away.

One breath, two. "I feel as if he wouldn't have been there if he hadn't been trying to cheer me up," she murmured. "As if that's a bad thing," Cherry retorted. "Call it the perversity of fate. Call it Glob punishing good deeds again. The bottom line is that nothing's being helped by you being down here. I have taxes to do, and I'm sure you have work as well." Breakfast sighed heavily. Shaking her head, she turned and headed out. She _did_ have work to do. She'd hoped to clear the air, and in most ways they had. Still, she could tell she wasn't welcome. It was time to go.

Upstairs, Finn sat on the exam table in the infirmary taking long, deep breaths. Drusilla Princess-Mertens stood beside him with her stethoscope pressed into his back, listening. As the older woman listened, Finn did his best to obey her every command. He was in hock, and he wanted to get back to some semblance of normal with her. She'd been a little strange when he came in. It wasn't anger. It wasn't even the painful fear that she'd greeted him with when he woke up. Something was different, and he wasn't sure what to do about it.

As his mind was wearing its way around that track for the fifteenth time, Sarah came bustling in with a box under one arm. "Babe," he greeted her. "What's in the box?" Sarah's eyes were on her co-spouse. "Just finishing up," Drew declared. "What's in the box?" Sarah set it down, saying, "a solution." Now she had both of them curious. As Drew put her instruments away, Finn reached for the cardboard container, asking, "what's in the box?" Sarah pushed his hand away, and then did it again when he corrected his aim and grabbed for her ass instead.

Fionna came in just then. "Daddy," she announced. "What's in the box?" "Not sure," Finn replied. Squeezing Sarah's ass, he said, "she called it a solution." "Glad to see you out of bed, daddy," said the Bad Bunny, as she hugged him and kissed his cheek. "Glad to be out of bed," Finn replied. The room got a little crowded as Bonnie walked in. "Sarah," she burbled. "I've been looking for you." "Been busy," the android-woman replied. "Working on the burned up top-soil... And checking up on problem-girl. If I start to act too much like you, it's likely because she's reprogramming me to replace you." Which was funny on its face when Sarah had all Bonnie's mannerisms already. "What's in the box," Bonnie asked?

Ignoring the question–and with a little eye-roll–Sarah turned and began washing the stub of Finn's arm with a thick, foamy lather. As the others in the room watched, the android-girl shaved his arm clean of hair before washing his stump. For Fionna, it was a jarring reminder that the Grass-Sword–the long-lived curse that had become part of him–was gone. Her daddy wasn't the same anymore. Just like her.

Now Sarah turned, opened the box, and drew out a shiny silver arm. Bonnie gasped, and her eyes narrowed. Sarah's eyes flicked to hers, then, almost defiantly, she pressed the cup of the mechanical arm around Finn's stump. In short order, without any effort at all, the arm began clicking and whirring. Finn held it up to the light, flexing the fingers to see the minute workings move. "That'll get dirty," Drew complained. She immediately went reaching for some gauze, and she wrapped the length of the arm up tight as she could, leaving only the hand uncovered. "There," she said. "That'll keep the dirt out until we get you some kind of covering." Turning to her co-spouse, the tall doctor thanked her, saying, "that's excellent, Sarah. I'm amazed you found the time." The android-girl flushed to her sticky, pink hair.

Reaching out, Finn stroked Sarah's cheek, and added a heartfelt thanks of his own. Grabbing her by the waist, he pulled her in tight, saying, "need both arms for the life I have." And he pulled Drew in tight against him too for good measure. Drew twisted his ear affectionately, as Sarah pulled free to retrieve the box. Bonnie hesitated not a moment before following the love-doll out the door. Out in the hall, Sarah turned to her beautiful creator and lover and said, "it belonged to him, and it was already calibrated with the appropriate brain-wave patterns. Or did you really want to take the time to build a new one."

Bonnie shut her mouth on the complaints she would have raised. Handing her the box, the android turned to go, saying, "the room is being misused. I think you should seal it. Permanently." When Bonnie glanced down, she found a bunch of Shoko's things inside. Glancing up, she said, "we need to talk. Soon." Sarah acknowledged that with a nod, but she never stopped walking. Bonnie sighed. Her creation was getting just as emotionally messed up as she herself was. So much for blind, machine logic.

On the far side of town at the Candy Clinic, Doctor Brulee awoke to the scent of a beautiful woman and an immediate sense of guilt. He'd sinned. He'd slept with a patient. He couldn't even tell you how this happened. He'd been laughing with his pretty patient. He'd laughed with her and found himself tempted when she asked him to dinner. Step by step, she'd cajoled him and led him on until he'd ended up _here_ in her apartment. The doctor felt all of a fool. He was supposed to be treating this woman for the serial abuses she'd suffered at the hands of intimate partners. And here he was, doing much the same thing.

Chelsea stroked his chest with a finger and murmured, "do you really have to go?" The doctor flushed to his hair. "Uh... I... uh... I'm supposed to be seeing a patient...," he babbled. "Couldn't you put him off," she asked? The doctor's blush deepened. He certainly dared _not_ bail on the King! Frowning at him as if she could read his mind, she murmured, "Patient 1, huh?" The doctor found himself wondering who was the psychologist. "I shouldn't delay for any of my patients," he replied, "but certainly it isn't good to stand up an important man." He shouldn't have told her about that. He shouldn't be telling people who he was treating. Somehow that had just come out. With a heavy sigh, he told her, "I have to go." With a teasing smile, she said, "you can take me to brunch tomorrow afternoon..." Not wanting to be like all the other jerks who'd hurt her, he quickly agreed.

Meanwhile, in the Grey Forest, Patrick Petrikov knelt by the side of a blood-soaked bed staring at the carnage that had been a party-bear. He was once again feeling his inadequacies. This was a job for Billy. Billy was the family's other great detective. He'd gotten sent out here because Fi was laid up in bed, recovering from giving birth to their daughter. He was here because Billy was sitting on the throne–occupying it–while his dad was laid up in the hospital. It felt a lot like he was the third-stringer, and he was having a lot of trouble dealing with that.

"Anything," Valerie Augustine demanded? This was her assistant! Her assistant, who'd been missing for _days_, was laying on the floor of some donk's apartment with an arrow in the back of her head. "There was passion behind this," Patrick muttered. "Somebody was really pissed at this guy. He's been stabbed a bajillion fucking times..." He remembered that from an old book of his dad's. You had to be pretty pissed off at somebody to stab them up like this, with wounds criss-crossing wounds. The former party-bear was a bloody shambles. Glancing at the girl, he asked, "she have any boyfriends?"

Val frowned at him. "Anybody who'd be annoyed that she was bangin' some random spank," Patrick insisted? With a heavy sigh, the wood-nymph cutie admitted, "she's married. She... she shouldn't have even been here. Her husband's one of our hunters." Roger was out on a long mission scaring up food for the forest. "He's skilled with a bow," Patrick muttered. He was getting more comfortable with this. "Think you need to go get him," he said, as he rose to his feet one more. Dusting his pants off, the wizard headed out. Valerie was left with the mess.

She'd liked Roger. She could understand why he'd do this little bitch in. Darcy had been a habitual cheater. She was sweetness and spice when he was home. The minute he put on his gear and headed out to work, she was down in the bars, trolling around looking for a mark–somebody to pay her for a little pussy. It had been like a game for the little bitch to cheat on her husband. Now Darcy's philandering was costing them both their lives. The Matriarch's laws were clear. Murder a nymph, take a short drop through a trap.

The young hero went outside past the landlady, shaking his head as he went. He felt inadequate for this. He felt like a fuckup, especially after his failure in the bandit kingdoms. There were moments where his mind went back to Cerilia and what she was going through. He felt awful about that–like he'd taken advantage–even though she was the one to start things. Even having Fi sweep the whole thing under the rug was doing little to help the guilt. He felt like he didn't deserve her. He wanted to wallow in his guilt for a bit, but there was an open section of the wall to patrol, and he was already late.

The Lawkeeper's assistant came out of the apartment. "What do I do with him," she asked? With a shrug, Patrick told her, "call his people... Tell them to come and get him." Part of him didn't really care. This guy was a piece of shit who was banging some other dude's wife. As far as Patrick was concerned, he sort of deserved to be laying there with his guts stabbed out. Without a further word, he stepped off, bound for the army camp, leaving the wood-nymph staring after him in puzzlement.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, the King of Ooo stood in the infirmary getting himself dressed with Lollipop's help. An agitated Drew stood at the door watching. She'd come in during the middle of the business and just stood there, staring. Finally, after a seeming eternity, the tall woman worked up the courage to speak, asking, "I... where are you going?" "Counseling," Finn replied. "I've missed a couple of sessions already." Her expression changed, showing confusion, but Finn was moving on. As Lollipop tied up his tie, the big man turned to his wife and said, "need a sling or something. I'm having trouble controlling this thing. It doesn't work quite right..." It took a moment, as Drew stood there staring at him. When Lollipop cleared her throat, the tall woman turned and rushed across the room, returning moments later with a sling.

As she carefully fit his arm into the sling, she said, "I guess I thought you'd be going back to work." "Billy's covering," Finn replied, which she well knew. Her husband was almost always agitating to get back in the saddle as soon as he could get there. His voice was utterly calm–no angst or worry at all. "I need to work through these problems," he said. "My family needs me to work through these problems." Her face snapped up to his, but Finn wasn't paying attention. "I'm borrowing the Morrow Too," he said. "That'll let me and Stan get over to the clinic and back before tonight." As soon as the sling was cinched up, the big man kissed her cheek and got on his way, leaving the tall doctor staring at him.

Lollipop interrupted her staring with a cough. When Drew turned to face her, the skinny girl said, "you missed your fitting. I have just enough time to get you in this afternoon. Be at my office at two. Or else." With a jaunty wave, the former model turned and headed out, bound for her office on the second floor. There were still three gowns to get done besides the one for Drew.

Miles away, two unsavory characters sat in an expensive–and borrowed–limousine, waiting their turn in the endless traffic snarl that had sprung up in the city the last few days. Many of the streets were blocked off entirely. Even the locals had to go through checkpoints to access the city-center. Fedir had never seen the like, but then this _was_ the wedding of the century.

The thug glanced around uneasily at all the security. The Candy Capitol was over-run with soldiers. There were men of every variation on nearly every corner. They were patrolling, and they were manning checkpoints, and even just standing around watching. It was a jarring sight for a man who'd walked small and done his dirt in silence in the wilderness for most of his life. He'd only lately come to the more civilized lands of the west, and he might well have wished to go back home again. Not that the murderess in the back seat of the carriage would have accepted that.

The little woman was staring around her, her expression haunted. The mood was thick on her today, and it had already cost one of his men a scarred and injured face. The nasty little creature had slashed his cheek with a letter-opener. If she'd had the poison on her nails, the man might well be _dead_. It was an ugly sign that Fedir was on borrowed time just now. Whispers among the ranks suggested that his replacement was waiting in the wings for him to fall on his sword over some foolishness or other. Men in this spot never lasted all that long.

"My brother once ruled this place," she murmured. It was out of the blue, just like always. She revealed little tidbits about herself like this. It would have been a weapon if she were somebody he dared cross. Fedir said nothing to that. He wasn't supposed to. Talking too much could get you butchered. He kept his eyes on the traffic and the hostile soldiers. "It was the perfect setup," she said. "He walked right in. They were happy to be rid of candy-bitch." Nodding absently, Fedir eased into a slot in the long line of traffic headed for the center of the city.

"They burned him," the Wax-Hustler muttered. "That fucking Finn burned my brother alive. She told him to do it." Fedir edged up a little more. They were almost at the checkpoint. He wished the little madwoman would shut her fucking mouth. He would have to roll the window down. If she kept talking about crazy shit, they were going to get caught. She was still blabbing when they pulled into the checkpoint though, and Fedir prepared to jump from the car and run–just in case.

The battle-scarred banana knocked on the window with his left hand, his right hovering on a dart-pistol. Fedir was all smiles as he opened the window. Thankfully, the murderous little bitch shut her mouth on the crazy spilling out. Fedir handed the guard their identification and passes. She had the right to be here. She was providing the entertainment after all. Kim Kil Wan had arranged everything–for a cut of the proceeds. The gullible ass thought he was going to be making bank on the Royal Wedding. Fedir waited patiently, and even popped the trunk open. They had nothing to hide. Kim had already smuggled the weapons inside the perimeter without even knowing it.

"Thank you for listening," murmured Chelsea as the car rolled in through the checkpoint. Fedir nodded. He was all smiles in spite of his terror. He was caught between a rock and a hard place. Either this woman or her enemies were going to kill him. Focusing on the job at hand instead of his terror, he wove his way through the much lighter traffic inside the checkpoint, bound for the Opera's temporary digs in the Royal Theater. All the Royal Wedding Guests were attending the Opera tonight. The nasty little witch had been delighted. He'd found her contemplating mass-murder a time or two. She'd toyed with the idea of having the few men she had try to lock the door while she burned the theater to the ground.

A hard, ugly reality had crushed the idea. Finn and his family would escape. The Ice-Queen could quench the fire and let them all escape. She'd give up her chance to make Bonnibel Bubblegum pay–and maybe lose her own life. That realization had led to the ugly outburst earlier. She'd been dreadfully disappointed. She was close enough to Finn and his family to reach out and touch them, but that touching would be meaningless. Tonight would be about reconnaissance. Nothing more.

A little calmer now, Fedir steered the car through the light traffic of the city center, heedful of the need to appear non-threatening. The patrols were no more relaxed now than they had been outside. That was the new Captain of the Guard's work, and it was one of the reasons Fedir had been subtly working to steer this woman away from doing something particularly stupid to get them caught. However much she might hate the Mertens clan, they had the power now, and Finn the Human had made it clear just what was going to happen to anybody who dared touch one of them.

Rolling up to the entry of the opera house, the thug hustled to get out of the car and get the door opened for his master. Nobody was driving into the parking garage today. That was strictly for the Theater's very important guests. "I'll be a moment," said Fedir, as he settled the witch's wrap around her slim shoulders. He had to get the car parked, and he'd be _walking_ back. Reaching up, the evil woman stroked his face as if he was her lover–an act that sent shivers down his spine, as he thought of her habit of wearing sharpened nail-extensions with venomous polish.

On the far side of town, Finn the Human settled onto Dr. Brulee's couch, stretching his legs out. "I confess, I assumed you'd still be in the hospital," the good doctor opined. Finn shrugged. He had to get back on his feet. This was part of the deal. He needed to be straight in his mind, and he now found himself with more reasons than before to go along with this. His ladies needed him to be squared away.

As the doctor gathered up his notebook, the big man got right to business, announcing, "I've been trying to take your advice. I'm trying to get used to this life." "Why just trying," asked the doctor? "There's a tremendous amount of good that you can do for others as well as yourself." Finn frowned a moment. It was the strangely pensive frown that the doctor had become used to. "Something wrong," he asked? "No," Finn replied. "Just... you're sort of sounding like my wives..." As the doctor listened, he laid out some of the things they'd asked of him–things he'd long ago considered out-of-bounds.

Dr. Brulee chuckled, "not many men would be bothered if their wives let them sleep with other women. Yours even encourages you to impregnate them. What can be wrong with that, Mr. Mertens? If this Riley is pleased, why not? You're doing her a turn since she and her companion can't have a child of their own." "Things are never that simple, doc," Finn replied. Gesturing in his usual animated way, the big man laid out all the things that could go wrong–from Riley and Teri having family troubles to people wanting to harm them because of Finn. He sometimes wanted to be exasperated with the girls because they just didn't seem to see the risks.

"Maybe you need to stop _focusing_ on the risks," the doctor told him. Finn frowned at him. Nodding, the breakfast-person said, "you're focusing on the risks as if those are the only things that matter in the world, Mr. Mertens. But it's a risk even getting out of bed in the morning! You could slip and break your neck in the shower! Those two women _need_ this, and only a man can give it to them. They did so _much_ for you, by your own admission." Finn sighed. They were his friends. He'd long ago set in his mind that, whenever he had a chance to ride high, his friends were coming along with him, and he'd striven to keep that promise his whole life.

"Sometimes a cigar is just a cigar, Mr. Mertens," said the doctor. "Sometimes a gift is just a gift and not a life-threatening event." Finn nodded uneasily. He could see the doctor's point. He just had the ugly feeling that there was a rather nasty shoe waiting to drop.

As the King of Ooo confronted his own burgeoning paranoia, one of his ladies returned to the castle she'd most recently conquered with the strange young maiden she'd been almost gifted by her stepson. The elemental woman was in something of a funke. She'd been quiet almost since they left the little village below the castle. "You're bothered by something," Ingrid announced. "What is it?" Olesia sighed. She didn't have William's poker-face, and it appeared she'd now be explaining herself once again to this woman. "I don't like to see people staring at me that way," she muttered, "like I'm a ravenous monster..." "You're powerful," Ingrid responded in airy tones.

Olesia glared at her. "If that was meant to help...," she muttered. With an airy wave of her hand, the Warrior Princess interrupted, "you have much to learn about power. You can't be _loved_ when you have power. Poor people and the powerless seek love. The powerful seek respect. When you're powerful, seeking love gets used as leverage." "You have an ugly world view," Olesia muttered. "I'm a princess," Ingrid retorted. "It comes with the job." As they passed under the castle's murder holes, the tall woman asked, "did you make a dress for the wedding?" Olesia flushed and glanced away. That was almost as sore a subject as having people stare at her in terror.

The tall woman was watching her when the plump girl glanced in her direction. "I'm not going," she murmured. "It's... This is an occasion for people more important than I." "Nonsense," said Ingrid. "As one of my officers and a member of the Royal Entourage, I expect you to be there. That is unless you wish to be discharged..." Olesia stared at her. At the same time, the only thing she had waiting on her at home was a life of emptiness. Here she was useful. "Ok," she said. Ingrid rode off, announcing, "I'll expect you to be ready to leave in the morning."

Finn spent much of the afternoon working out his problems with Dr. Brulee. Then, climbing into the back of the Morrow Too once more, the big man rode back to the secured city-center for the big deal of the day. His wives had been working on the arrangements almost from the moment that the agreement was made. Simone worked the invitations. Betty worked out who would be sitting with who. Lollipop worked to make sure that every person in the family would be dressed to the nines and looking their best.

It was Breakfast who ended up with the job of entertaining the horde of Royal Guests who were coming. She'd found herself working out a week-long entertainment schedule to occupy her irritating former colleagues for the entire time they'd be here. Bonnie wanted them too busy to get up to the sort of scheming and ugly shenanigans they got into when unoccupied. Fortunately, a prominent businessman from the Candy Kingdom had shown up with a string of proposals including an imported opera. Arriving at home, Finn quickly washed and struggled into a tuxedo for the occasion. Then, with Simone, Emeraude, and Betty by his side, the King headed out to the limo for the trip to the theater.

They were joined in the car by first a very uncomfortable Billy and then the Princess Dowager and her grand-daughter. Nieve was dressed in a demur blue gown instead of the ugly leotard that Yolanda often wore. Her grandmother was dressed in a conservative formal gown in grey silk that matched her status in life. As the limo rolled out, Finn opened the evening with a bottle of kumis from Ragnhild's homeland. It was a pointed reminder that Nieve was marrying _into_ something. As Simone helped her husband pour, Odessa graciously accepted her glass. And Nieve squirmed. It was clear to Finn that if Odessa was happy with circumstances, her grand-daughter was far from thrilled.

The party made polite, if strained, small talk even as the limo rolled into the garage under the theater. Finn's verbal sparring with Odessa dominated the conversation. She was all about the power her family stood to get. Betty, Simone, and Emeraude kept her on her toes with their often pointed comments. The high-stakes conversation continued as the two families made the trip up to the Royal Box and almost up to the opening of the opera. Billy and Nieve were mostly in the background as they took the turns and climbed the stairs while the King sparred with the Princess Dowager. Still, it was Odessa who shut the whole business down as the opera opened.

Polite to the last, the Princess Dowager put aside business for the small pleasures of the evening. The title of the piece was Un Ballo in Maschera. An excited Odessa explained the story in whispers as Finn watched the show unfold. A far less enthusiastic Betty sat frowning at the image of a handsome blonde king being assassinated at a masquerade ball. Her frowning expression was so severe that Simone had to comment on it during intermission.

"Un Ballo in Maschera is based on the real life assassination of King Gustav III," Betty murmured. The trio were standing across the room from the refreshments, watching Finn as he chatted with Cherry and Strudel. Emeraude stared at Betty in puzzlement. She wasn't exactly a fan of highbrow entertainment, but she'd been digging it so far. "It's not the show," Betty muttered. "I guess... I have a bad vibe about this..." "Mom, you're feeling the target on our collective back," Simone replied. "An opera is not an assassination roadmap. I'm having trouble keeping him from being paranoid as it is." Betty nodded, but it was clear she was having trouble, still. "Mom," Simone murmured. "I don't like the coincidence," Betty blurted. Breakfast had scheduled a masquerade ball for the following evening. Just then, the attendant announced the end of intermission. The wealthy attendees headed for their boxes. "Not a word," Simone admonished Betty. Finn was relaxed. She wanted him to stay that way.

**Is it paranoia if they really ARE out to get you?**


	13. Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

Bronwyn came into her father's room wearing a natty skirt and blouse combo in soft, shimmery silk. To her mother's eyes, she was dressed like a girl on the make. Her purple skirt hugged tight to her hips, and yet the hem flowed and danced with every step she took, showing off her long, lean legs. The shimmery, red blouse she wore hugged tight to her plump bust, and the square cut opening showed abundant cleavage. It was quite abundant considering she had two pair of heavy-duty knockers. Her long, golden hair had been teased out and hung to her waist in twists and curls. She looked like she was on the prowl.

Her dad looked _flustered_.

"Why aren't you ready," Bronwyn burbled? Her mom had always been the long pole in the tent when it came to being ready to go. Pat Rainicorn liked to dress to the nines. She liked every face to know that she was a wealthy woman. From the elaborate hair-dos to the beautiful dresses, the party-bear was a walking symbol of Kim Kil Wan's wealth. The man himself? Like most any man, he was up and ready to go at a few moments' notice. Today he was half-dressed, and he had his phone in his hand. His eyes flicked to Pat, and Bronwyn knew immediately that this was about Barry. Her second-cousin was fucking up again. Still.

Striding forward, Bronwyn slipped his phone out of his hand, and reached for his tie. "Hey, mom," she said. "Why don't you go down and check on the car?" Rolling her eyes–these two seemed to think they were sooo clever in trying to get rid of her–the plump she-bear turned, picked up her purse, and headed out. Eventually they'd get around to telling her what the fuck it was that Barry had done to vex her husband _this_ time. She'd been covering for the idiot for years, and she was getting to the point where she was ready to tell Vivi to go hang. It wasn't like _she_ could keep that jackass on the straight-and-narrow.

When the plump party-bear was gone, Bronwyn bent to the task of putting her dad's tie on, as she quizzed him on what was going on. "Barry's run into trouble," Kim muttered. Bronwyn chuckled. When _wasn't_ Barry running into trouble? She'd noticed that the number of men coming through the Grey Forest had slowed to a trickle. She'd sent a series of threatening messages up there and gotten no response. "He's dead," Kim announced. Bronwyn's jaw dropped in shock. Nodding, Kim said, "he was caught with some man's wife..." Rolling her eyes and shaking her head in disgust, Bronwyn muttered, "figures. Always thinking with his little head." It was bound to catch up to him sooner or later. She'd come close to cutting his balls a time or two herself when she caught him staring down the front of her blouse.

"Right," muttered Bronwyn. "I'll take care of it." Just like that. Kim frowned at her. "I'm planning to be a partner, daddy," she reminded him. "This is a job for a partner. Somebody has to go unfuck this thing and haul his carcass out of there." With a sigh, Kim asked, "what do I tell your mom?" With a shrug, Bronwyn replied, "tell her something came up. I had to go take care of it. We'll... We'll have to get on the phone and figure out what we're telling Vivi."

Kim headed down to the car to find Pat waiting on him with that 'you're going to catch hell' expression on her face. The dog-icorn put on a smile, hoping to avoid the looming confrontation. "So what's he done," asked Pat? Kim knew who 'he' was. "Well," demanded Pat? Kim motioned for the driver to get the door opened, but Pat was up for a fight tonight. "Are you going to tell me," she asked? Kim took her by the arm and steered her for the door, pointing out, "we'll be late..."

Smoothing her skirts, Pat sat herself in the far seat, with Kim settling himself right behind her. As the driver shut the door, the party-bear looked around, asking, "where's Bronwyn?" Kim replied, "she's gone off to settle a problem..." Pat's jaw came open, and then she started shouting. Kim tried to soothe her, but Pat was having none of it. "Our daughter's almost _thirty_," she howled! "When's she going to be able to settle down?! When am I going to get grandkids?! You sucked her into that fucking business of yours, Kim! You're responsible for the fact that we have no grandkids!" Kim fired back, "she's learning to take care of the money I'll leave her when I'm gone, Pat! That's important!" "It's important for Bronwyn to give up her chance at meeting a good mate for fucking Barry," Pat shouted back?!

The dog-icorn suffered through that brutal dressing-down for a long, long hour as the car wended its way across town and through the massive security-cordon outside the event venue. It was hard to believe his idiot uncle had the power and money to afford something on this scale. His mind kept harkening back to the day he'd sold the tree-house out from under his father and uncle just to teach his father a lesson. The pair of them had been down-and-out, and he'd finally relented after realizing that his father was simply a hopeless fool. He'd honestly expected that the pair of them would end up on the streets somehow or dead from one of their endless idiotic adventures. Now this man whom he'd thought a fool was King of the world.

Seeing her husband staring out the windows at the sights around them, an irritated Pat complained, "Bronwyn could be meeting a prince! Instead, she's looking after Vivi's idiot husband!" "He's fucking _dead_, Pat," Kim shot back! "Do you think we should just leave him laying on a slab in the Grey Forest?!" Pat's mouth shut with a click. Rolling his eyes, Kim said, "we were trying to figure out how to break it to Vivi, but since you have to know, somebody murdered him. Bronwyn's gone to get his body back, so we can at least get him to a funeral parlor. Don't you think we owe Vivi that much?"

Now the idiot broke down in tears–as if she really cared that much about the jackass. Sometimes he wondered if she even cared that much about Vivian. He was at his wits-end. Blowing out a breath, he apologized, saying, "I didn't mean to hurt you, Pat." "Poor Vivi," Pat howled, as if on cue. "W-what're we going to say to her? H-how did he die?" Kim glanced away, muttering curses. And that told his wife everything she needed to know. "How did he die, Kim," she demanded? Rolling his eyes, the businessman admitted, "he was cheating on Vivi with some other guy's wife. Looks like the guy caught them... and... got upset." It was all fake tears and feminine outrage now, but at least she was off his back.

Meanwhile, inside the Gumbald Arts Center, a nervous Billy the Human stood before a mirror, his hands shaking. "You've been through this before," Ragnhild tutted, as she shaved his face. "Four times," Abeiuwa chuckled. They were having a laugh at his expense, which was helping precisely not at all. "I wanted to be part of those other times," Billy muttered. "I don't see why you don't grow it out," Noemi suggested. Which she'd suggested on numerous other occasions. She _liked_ beards.

Ragnhild gave the plump woman a dirty look, suggesting she was pushing. It was another of those unhappy epiphanies. His dad went through this. A lot. From his moms fighting over cologne–Cherry liked cologne and Bonnie hated it–to his original pair of moms fighting over boxers vs. briefs, his dad got pulled in a literal bakers' dozen directions at once. And some of those women had the power to make Finn howl. Now _he_ was getting it. Noemi liked facial hair. Rags wasn't a fan, and, for Abeiuwa, it was a big 'meh'. He wished somebody would break the tie, so he could figure out which side to fall on. And that was another thing that was bugging him. His life was becoming about making _them_ happy. He was getting consumed. Rags' voice was soothing, as she said, "we're doing fine. This is all going to work out just dandy, honey." He nodded, but he wasn't sure he believed it.

When she'd finished shaving him, the Frozen Yogurt Princess washed his face and combed his hair. Noemi moved in to help him get into his suit, and Rags finished things off by tieing up his tie. He was as ready as he was ever going to get. It was time to go down and face the music. One by one the trio came forward and embraced him. Ragnhild gave him a somewhat prim and proper kiss. Noemi pressed her big grapes into his chest and tried to tongue out the inside of his mouth. Abeiuwa was dirtiest of all. Pressing her hard body against his, the Princess of the Southern Jungles tried to give him a killer hard-on by grinding her hips against his. Yeah, he was screwed, and going in deeper every day.

Elsewhere in the sprawling event venue, the Lizard Princess stood on an upstairs balcony, staring down at the veritable _sea_ of Royalty that had shown up for the gathering. Her face was turning all sorts of interesting colors at the sight of women–_rivals_–she hadn't seen in years. Bambi the Deer Princess from over the Western Ocean was here with her idiotic besty, Tequila Princess. Slutty Pirate Princess was here and glaring daggers at the Matriarch of the Water-Nymphs. Even fucking Lamprey Princess was here, looking like she'd swallowed a medicine ball. She was maybe a few weeks out and still here prowling around like she was looking for dick.

Competition. Soooo much competition.

As if to punctuate that thought, a familiar face came around the corner. It was the little elemental bitch. And, shockingly, it looked like she'd been losing weight–_lots_ and _lots_ of weight. "Well, hello," Olesia greeted the jealous lizard-woman. Hamest flushed at that cheery response as if she'd been slapped. The plump girl was dressed in a body-hugging dress with the barest of straps to cover those heavy-duty tits of hers. She looked like a fucking walking heart-attack.

Before the claws came out (both literal and figurative), a loudspeaker announced that the wedding guests should take their seats. In short order, the pack of princesses and various hangers-on and functionaries were headed for the door to the Lolly Bubblegum Conference Center–the impromptu chapel chosen for the day's blessed event. With a smile and a jaunty wave, the plump elemental woman turned and headed for the stairs to join the queue.

Chaos reigned as the surly princesses jostled with each other to get into the wedding venue. They were _very important people_ after all, and they expected to be treated as such. That left their entourages jostling in the doorway to the venue. Breakfast Princess did yeoman service smoothing the ruffled feathers as she rushed back and forth to get them all seated. In spite of Ingrid's suggestions that she was part of the Royal Entourage of the King of Ooo, Olesia found herself hanging out near the very rear of the room, in the same row as the fashionably-late Rainicorn family.

A very nervous Billy the Human arrived in company with the three Princesses to whom he was currently married. The big man looked paler than usual, and Olesia felt sorry for him. He looked like he was going to a hanging instead of a wedding. _Maybe it's both,_ she thought, as she eyed the antics up at the front of the room. Ragnhild looked resigned. Abeiuwa looked smug, and Noemi... was _amused_.

As the wedding march began to play, the Princess Dowager of the Muscle Kingdom stepped forward to conduct the ceremony. Billy grew paler, seeming to flinch with every note played. At a slow, measured pace, Nieve came down the aisle, dressed in traditional white, and she almost appeared to be torturing the Ice Prince, as that walk seemed never-ending. And then, after a seeming eternity of the young hero staring around him like a cornered rat, the bride-to-be arrived at the altar.

The ceremony was blessedly short as Royal Weddings went. Olesia thought that many of the princesses were disappointed by the lack of pomp. At the same time, she thought it was a mercy for poor William. He fumbled his way through the whole thing as if he was being led up to the gallows, and he twice managed to flub his lines and stutter through the entirety of the 'I-do's'. Disappointment was short-lived though. There was rich food on offer in the great atrium of the convention center.

The pack of princesses and their vast entourages went filtering out into the grand hall to find table after table of refreshments and three well-stocked bars serving just about anything a sentient on Ooo could want. The Royal Family followed after at a much more sedate pace. For some, this was hardly a reason to celebrate. Finn was feeling it. He'd sold his first-born child for power, and he wasn't happy, even if his wives felt it was perfectly acceptable. Billy himself was in a state of shock. He'd just gotten married to somebody he didn't really like. He was supposed to go sleep with Nieve. He was supposed to conceive a child with her. And a large piece of him would rather have slept in the park alone.

Fionna's mind was going a half-dozen different directions at once. She could see her brother's distress, and that bothered her. More to the point, she had two daughters who could find themselves married off like this, and she was terrified of seeing them in the kind of abusive situation her grandma sometimes talked about from the 'old days' before the Mushroom War. Add in the fact that Star was having complications from the issue of small belly/two babies, and she was a bundle of worry. That didn't even get into the brittle mood Patrick had been in the last time they'd spoken on the phone. She wanted to get back to the Grey Forest, finish up business there, and get him home.

Of course, there was something that needed to get done right now. "C'mon, twerp," rumbled the tall girl, as she grabbed for Star's hand. The little nymph bristled at being called a twerp, but Fionna wasn't taking 'no' as an answer. She dragged her little sister off in the direction of the locked-down exit the Palace Guard was keeping for the Royal Family. "W-where're you taking me," Star demanded? "Home," Fi replied. "You saw the wedding. Now you're going home to bed." Star opened her mouth to complain, but a muscle-spasm in her aching back put paid to the griping, and she ended up going along to get along.

As several of the Royal Moms milled around in the exit of the hall, chatting, Odessa came bustling through, leading the 'happy couple'. She was bound for the elevator up to the penthouse suite, where the pair were going to change into something suitable for the usual post-wedding meet-and-greet. Lollipop wasn't sure who looked more unhappy, Bill or Nieve. It was going to be an interesting wedding night for certain. Then Bonnie brushed past, looking just as unhappy. Her town, her rules, and _Odessa_ got the job of performing the ceremony. Her face a study in angst, the candy-monarch turned left, headed for the stairs up to the balcony. To fume.

Indeed, Bonnibel Bubblegum swung past a refreshment stand, grabbing the handiest glass she could find of something _strong_. Gulping it down in one go, she wiped her lips before grabbing two more glasses and storming off again. She left a startled bartender staring at her back. It was never good to see an angry Royal. Finn stopped right where he was and stared after her. It was Simone who'd decided who was going to perform the ceremony for her child, and Bonnie had been in a snit since the decision got announced. For somebody who liked to tout her diplomatic credentials, she was one of the most undiplomatic people around.

Before Finn could even think of rushing after her, Margarida Quintana, the Queen of the Water-Nymph Confederation stopped him, saying, "I would still like to talk about the matter I tried to broach earlier..." Smoothly, Simone stepped in, saying, "I'm not ready to entertain the forcible marriage of another family member, just yet. We can talk, but you'll have a tough time convincing me..." Betty joined the affray moments after that, sparing the big man the ugly of having to deal with this just now. He turned back to look for Bonnie, finding that she'd gone up the stairs–and now Cherry was gone too.

Betty and Simone led Margarida away, bound for the refreshments on the far side of the hall, and Finn knew exactly what that was about. He was disturbed by this whole thing. They thought they were sparing him. But you couldn't be spared when they were discussing marrying your kids off like this, could you? As if in ugly reminder, Ragnhild, Abeiuwa, and Noemi came out just then, and the trio turned and headed for the elevator. Hurletta came up alongside him and took him by the arm, saying, "you haven't eaten in hours, Finn. Let's get you fed."

Up on the balcony, Bonnie downed the first of the two shots of chocolate liqueur. Tossing the glass aside, she raised the other to her lips. Cherry rumbled, "huh... that was _me_ a few years ago..." Bonnie's face snapped around, a blush suffusing her features. Striding up alongside the tall woman, the little gangster stared over the side of the railing as if staring into an abyss. "I spent a lot of years at the bottom of a bottle," she said. Bonnie put the glass down, feeling the taste of the liquor turn to ash in her mouth. She'd forgotten all about this woman when her husband was buried.

"I didn't come up here to make you feel guilty," Cherry said. Though she'd done a pretty good job of it. "You're going through some stuff," Cherry opined with a shrug. "I'm trying to steer you away from the mistake I made." "Ok," muttered Bonnie. "I don't _get_ you." She glanced down at her little nemesis with a frown. "Where did I go wrong," she murmured? It almost sounded like she was ready to take the small woman apart to see what made her tick. "Maybe I'm the one you got _right_, Bonnibel," Cherry retorted. Looking up at her frenemy, the little woman said, "maybe I'm your wake-up call, Bonnie. Maybe the world isn't the perfect little garden you hoped it would be." Bonnie's right hand clenched into a fist. "Maybe we should have that fight," Cherry chuckled. "We've got a lot of things we could fight over."

The tall woman stood there a moment, staring at her. Taking a chance, Cherry reached out and took the glass from her fingers, setting it aside. "Walk with me," she whispered. "Come take a walk with me." The tall princess wavered a moment. Deepening the risk, the fallen lawyer took her former overlord's hand and started walking. At first she was half-dragging the older woman. Then, as the princess slowly relaxed, they began to walk normally. Shadowing them, the two bodyguards exchanged smiles of relief. No Royal Fight today. Separating the King's wives when they got to fighting was every kind of _not fun_.

Meanwhile, the bundle of nerves and terror that was Bronwyn Rainicorn sat strapped into the seat of her dad's hired airship as their hired cyborg brought the thing down through an evening rain-storm. She hated this thing. Most often when she traveled, she took the car. That had become a problem with the unrest and fighting of the last few years. Even beyond the risk of running into wandering monsters, there were masterless men wandering about making trouble. They'd stopped several cars going back to Cocoa City and robbed the occupants. Her dad had hired this airship at an exorbitant rate, and this had become the cost of doing business.

It was crazy on its face. Her grandmother could fly. Her great-grandparents could both fly. And she was terrified of flying. Or rather, she was very terrified of _crashing_. Strangely, when they were high in the sky, the fear subsided some, but the closer they got to the ground–and landing–the more her mind wanted to conjure some last minute incident that would smash the plane and take her life. The pilot was no help at all. He spoke not at all to her beyond a few scattered sentences, and unlike some of the others they'd dealt with, he preferred simply to plug himself into the machine, eschewing the various hand-controls. Her father believed it made him a better pilot–less likely to make mistakes. Bronwyn feared the opposite was true. What if his mind wandered?

The pilot brought the machine down, down, down through the clouds, exchanging sparse words with the tiny contingent of his people there on the ground. The field was rough, as so many of the places they did business. It was just enough cleared and open space to land a flying-machine, and that was it. Fortunately, his machine was equipped for short take-offs and landings. Flaring into a hover, he eased the thing down among poorly-cleared tree-stumps and ruts.

Moments later, the hybrid found herself walking down the airship's ramp into a chill evening rain in the Grey Forest. The sexy, short, leg-baring skirt around her hips had been something fun to wear when she was going to her adopted-cousin's wedding and looking to meet thirsty dudes maybe looking for a wife. Standing in an icy rain with a chill wind blowing out of the north made it a trial and left the plush puppy feeling prickly. Fucking Barry. That was all she could think of, as she contemplated the party she was missing. Fucking Barry was the reason for this. A part of her would have set him ablaze instead of giving him a funeral–and maybe tossed Vivi on the pyre too.

Shaking her head and muttering curses, the hybrid hefted her bag and went flouncing down the walk, broad hips wig-wagging thanks to the six-inch heels she was wearing. Up ahead, the supervisor of this little disaster stood waiting under the cover of the rattle-trap of a terminal the nymphs had slapped together here. She hated coming to this place. She hated nymphs with a passion since she'd caught her father banging one when she was a teen. She'd never ratted him out on the subject, but it had been a sore point with her for years.

She would have admitted to rationalizing it. She'd blamed the nymph rather than her father and his philandering habits, and even now she wanted to blame the bitch Barry was banging rather than Barry himself. But here they were. "Patrick," she greeted the Ice-King's son. "Bronwyn," Patrick replied. Unlike the run of dudes, he didn't stare relentlessly at her tits, which was something of an oddity. Then again, she would have had to admit that Fionna's were plusher. "Let's get this done," she rumbled, as she brushed past him, heels click-clacking on the rough stone porch that served for a boarding-gate.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, Hamest the Lizard Princess stood figuratively on the outside of a strange, _fenced-in_ area where the 'happy couple' were greeting a select list of guests. She'd been plainly and clearly excluded when the likes of the Pirate Princess were within the little gathering, pressing the flesh and mercilessly flirting with the groom. It was a pointed sign that, though they'd put up with her sleeping with their husband on the down-low in her own kingdom, Ragnhild, Abeiuwa, and Noemi were putting up barriers against anything more than that. Feeling the weight of a depression taking hold, the cougar had gone upstairs to the balcony to stare wistfully at the one she wanted.

"Looks like we're both on the outside," Olesia murmured. The unhappy cougar looked up at her with a bleak expression. Laying an arm on Hamest's shoulders, the plump girl said, "got myself all dolled up for this..." Hamest was momentarily startled not to be burning alive. And then she noticed what had been there before her eyes all along. Leaning on the balcony, Olesia chuckled, "there's a way to have what I want. My cousin found it first." As the lizard-woman stared in shock, the plump girl told her about Phoebe's miracle cure for the burning flame inside her.

Down below, Finn the Human found himself strangely at loose ends. Hurletta had led him away from the unpleasant scene with Margarida, but then she herself had gotten dragged away from Finn to deal with some complaints from Aysun. Bonnie and Cherry had gone off somewhere, which was strange on its face given that they weren't exactly friends. Simone and Betty had closeted themselves with the leader of the water-nymphs. Drew had gone off after Fionna to give Star a good looking over, and E had gone with her to look in on her first child–and maybe get a looking over herself.

Beeps was rushing around making sure that nothing went wrong this evening, with Lollipop helping out wherever she could. Nadia had already gone upstairs to pack for her trip home. That left Phoebe, Sarah, Ingrid, and Strudel as the only Finn-wives still in the room. The big man scanned the scene, looking for Phoebe. Spying the elemental, he headed off, weaving his way across the room, bodyguard in tow. He wanted to talk to her–to lose himself in the connection that they'd somehow, against the odds, managed to rekindle.

As he approached, he found her talking to Purple Kingdom's ambassador. It was clear from her expression that she was annoyed. "Hey," he greeted her. "Busy, babe," she replied. "Talk later..." With a sigh, the big man turned and headed off in the direction he'd last seen Ingrid, his latest and greatest 'project wife'. The soldier was closeted with a half-dozen of his other generals, including Hurletta's Minister for War, and they were talking about the campaign against the Peanuts. Hearing the snippets of discussion, he decided that he wanted to be somewhere else. Ingrid could talk about killing people for hours, but his heart wasn't in that tonight.

The King of Ooo found himself hunting around for Sarah and Strudel, searching for two people who he thought should have been all but impossible to miss. It was crazy on its face, but a man with fourteen wives–fifteen if you counted the Sky Witch–was _alone_ at his son's wedding reception. It was as he was crisscrossing the hall for the fourth–fifth?–time, a voice called out to him.

Finn turned to find himself facing the Opera Populaire's master. He'd met the humanoid the previous evening at the masquerade ball, and they'd chatted for a few minutes. Finn had been a little intrigued by the stranger at the time. He had blue skin and an accent similar to Orzsebet's, and the King couldn't help thinking of his missing spymaster, wondering what she was up to. Now he found himself fighting down his irritation. He didn't want to deal with anybody. He wanted to spend time with the people he loved.

"Allow me to introduce our prima donna," announced the humanoid. Finn glanced down to his companion. The face was strangely familiar to him. She was petite and curvy–like Cherry–with plump knockers that looked big on her small frame. She was a fetching woman with pale yellow skin and hair, a long, narrow nose, and fine features. A mole on her left cheek completed the look.

Finn graciously offered to kiss the lady's hand. She smiled prettily at him. Before her boss could say another word, one of his other employees called him. "Your pardon, sire," said the humanoid. "I should see what he wants..." The opera manager rushed off, leaving the King with his pretty Meistersinger. Smiling up at him, the little woman suggested, "does the King dance?" Puzzled by this development, the King replied, "uh..." He indicated his arm and the sling it now hung within. "Nonsense," she said with a pouty little smile, as she took hold of his other hand. With a sigh, the big man followed her to the dance floor.

**Finn meets the enemy, and Billy gets sold, while Bronwyn puts on her big-girl skirt and goes out to handle the bidness.  
**


	14. Chapter 14

Chapter 14:

"I don't understand why this is so important right now," Patrick muttered. "This guy's been dead for days..." "I didn't know about it until tonight," Bronwyn growled. "He's family. I hate his fucking guts, but he's my second-cousin's husband. I can't exactly leave him to rot on a slab in fucking nymph-land." She sounded like an angry bear about ready to tear his head off and shit down his neck. He imagined that stood to reason, since she _was_ half-bear. "I thought party-bears were more fun-loving," the younger man teased. Bronwyn glanced away. That jab hit harder than she liked to admit. Her mom had missed going to her uncle's funeral because she'd never bothered opening the letter. She'd been too busy hitting the summer-party circuit.

In slow, patient tones, the plush bear-cub explained, "Barry is my second cousin's husband and my father's employee. It doesn't look good to have an employee get butchered up in a foreign place and do nothing to go take care of it. It's not good on a number of levels for us to do nothing about this. I can't look my second cousin in the face if I don't come back with her husband, and I can't explain to the partners what happened if I don't investigate." "Ok," Patrick said with a yawn. He'd just been hoping to avoid doing this until morning. He was wiped out from a long day patrolling the open stretch of wall and hungry to see his pillow. It helped not at all that he was worried about Fi and their kids and not sleeping well at night.

Stepping out of the battered truck that Billy and Fi had left here for him, the young hero went around to the passenger side where Bronwyn was already climbing out. There was more than one reason he didn't really want to be bothered with her tonight. Damn if those legs weren't fucking fantastic. And that body! He was a tit-man. Like his dad, he liked him some big knockers. This girl had two pair! He was having every kind of trouble looking her in the eye, though it helped that his mother had smacked him around a time or two for staring at Fi or Simone's knobs when he was a teen.

The pair went up the walkway to the Matron L'Hopital's office. Patrick's face got them in the door, even though it was already pretty late. Patrick signed them into the morgue, and the irritated nymph led them through the rows of corpses. Like everything else in the Grey Forest, the conditions were primitive. There was no refrigeration, and the smell was pretty ripe. Patrick had been forced to get himself used to this kind of ugly from the wars he'd been in. Bronwyn ended up running to the ladies' room to empty her stomach.

Returning to the morgue, the tall half-bear found the wizard standing over the mortal coil of Barry Baines. "Jeez," she muttered, as she held her handkerchief over her nose, "how many fucking times did that bastard stab him?" Patrick shrugged. Passion. The lesson here: don't fuck some other dude's wife. With a sigh, Bronwyn thought of Vivi. Vivi was a typical party-bear–more interested in fun than most anything else. At the same time... Vivi didn't deserve this. She didn't deserve to have her husband come back to her like this. She wouldn't even get to see his face. There was a big hole in the middle of his face where and arrow had gone in.

With a wave of her hand, the tall hybrid summoned the attendant. When the nymph approached, Bronwyn declared, "need him boxed up to go along with all his stuff. I'll be sending him home in the morning." The nymph bristled. That was going to eat up a lot of time tonight! Murmuring soothing words, Patrick led her away. "He's your problem," said the wizard. "He goes. She goes with him." Handing the nymph a little cash, he said, "a little money for your trouble. Thanks." Bronwyn was already headed for the door. She wanted to see the records of the investigation. She still had to figure out how the idiot had come to grief and who'd done him in. Rolling his eyes, Patrick followed that wiggling ass to the door, thankful that _he_ wasn't married to _her_.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, Billy the Human was sitting alone now with only his friend and lieutenant for company. Odessa had declared an end to the meet-and-greet and told the pack of nasty cougars to shove off after the Pirate Princess actually dared to sit on his lap. She'd taken Nieve upstairs–to get _ready_. Rags, Abeiuwa, and Noemi had promptly decamped to the elevator not long after them, leaving Billy here alone.

Leo had been trying to cheer him up with patchy success. The Froyo-Person was curious about what it had been like running the world while his dad was down sick. Billy had actually been distracted from his worries as he regaled his friend with stories of the perfidy of the ruling class. And then, while they were laughing about Tequila Princess and her wanna-be feud with her neighbor to the south, Billy's phone chimed, indicating he'd gotten a message.

He'd been waiting on a message from his grandmother-in-law, directing him to come upstairs. And dreading it. "You're not really upset about this," Leo queried? "Terrified," Billy admitted. This whole thing felt wrong. Had he paddled the shit out of Nieve's ass when she was raising hell in Emerald Kingdom? Yeah. That was business. This... felt wrong somehow. "You're _married_," said the Froyo-Person. "It's an arranged marriage. This kind of thing used to happen all the time."

When his friend and boss hesitated, the soldier took the phone from Billy's jacket pocket and handed it to him. "Answer," he said. With a sigh, Billy flicked his phone open. "It's Rags," he sighed. "She wants something. I better to see what's going on." Leo rolled his eyes. He was ducking this. He was trying to anyway. As the soldier watched, the young princeling crossed the hall to the guarded elevator and headed up.

Arriving in the suite where he'd been staying with his ladies, the big man found the Frozen Yogurt Princess packing her bags. "Uh, what gives," Billy stammered? Ragnhild never stopped her suitcase-stuffing. "Got to go north, honey," she said. "Royal Council's riding my ass. Lots of problems and fallout from the wars..." Abeiuwa came out of _her_ room with the leopard-skin bag that he'd bought her _months_ ago. At his questioning look, she said, "headed out to Grid-Face Kingdom. I've got to look in on this Tesla-machine. I'm paying a lot for it..." And though Nadia _was_ her friend of many long years, the shrewd Jungle Princess never spent her funds lightly. Billy began to suspect something was up when Noemi came out of her room with her bag and their daughter as well.

"Ok," he said. "What gives...?" Instead of answering that question directly, Ragnhild gave him a kiss on the cheek and said, "you should get to know Nieve. She's interesting. I'm taking the kids with me, so you won't have to look in on them." A glance to Abeiuwa told him all he needed to know. They were leaving him here. With _her_. It was kind of like a kick to the nuts. One by one the trio kissed him. "See you in a few weeks," said Noemi. "Don't do anything I wouldn't," agreed Abeiuwa, with a mischievous grin. Billy blushed to his hair. Abeiuwa was up for doing just about _anything_. "We'll be fine," Ragnhild told him, as she sauntered to the door, elegant bottom swaying with each step.

When the door shut, he found himself alone. He was alone, for the first time in what seemed like _forever_. No Rags. No Abeiuwa. Not even Noemi. He wondered if this was what his dad had felt when his moms walked out that door to have adventures of their own. And that was when his phone chirped again. Distracted and upset, the big man drew his phone and found himself staring at a message from Odessa. Apparently it was time.

Down below, in the Hall, the King of Ooo was twirling his strange visitor around the dance-floor–under the watchful eyes of his bodyguards. "You're an excellent dancer for a soldier," Chelsea opined. "Had to learn," Finn replied. "A man has to better himself. The world is always throwing curve-balls at you." Which notion surprised her as much as his skill at dancing. As the music changed, he seamlessly switched to the minuet, showing that his demonstrated skill was no fluke. The little woman felt a trickle of fear. Peihong had suggested he was a dangerous opponent with far more skill and wisdom than your typical thug had. That left the little murderess pondering how to succeed at this.

She'd considered slipping away to the bathroom to put on her nail-polish, but that left her at risk of being killed by his bodyguards. She wasn't ready to die. Not and leave Bonnibel Bubblegum alive. Not that she was at all sure she'd be able to actually get in a scratch. He was wearing a jacket and silk shirt. That left her with a fifty-fifty chance of his surviving–less if you considered the Quicksilver Curse. And then she'd be dead. What to do?

Back upstairs, Billy walked into the suite he was supposed to share with his new wife. He found the place set up for romance, with the lights down and incense filling the air. It wasn't quite the same thing as he'd gotten with Ragnhild, Abeiuwa, or Noemi. His marriages to them had been perfunctory–really just an afterthought. With all the shit that had been going on at the time, they'd ended up just climbing into bed and going to sleep–grateful just to have the respite. _Relax,_ he told himself. _This is natural. Guys get married and sleep with their wives all the time._

Taking a deep breath, the big man headed into the bedroom. He found Nieve sitting on the edge of the bed dressed in an ugly sack. It wasn't quite what he was expecting. Even though they'd sort-of, kind-of already done it–and made babies–Abeiuwa and Noemi had shown up in sexy negligees anyway. To find Nieve wearing an ugly, brown sack on their first night together left him confused. At the same time, this was the night. He was committed. Striding forward, he went reaching for his tie to untie it.

The Muscle Princess turned and stared at him as if she were looking at a puzzlement. "What do you think you're doing," she asked? "I beg your pardon," Billy replied. "We're on our honeymoon." Motioning towards the outer room of the suite, she coolly said, "you can take some blankets out to the couch." "Uh... we're _married_," Bill reminded the hussy. Nieve looked down her elegant nose at him as if to say, 'so what.' "We're supposed to be working on a kid, remember," Billy reminded her? The Muscle Princess laughed in his face. She laughed and laughed as if he'd told a very funny joke. "What," she retorted? "You didn't _really_ think I'd let you fuck me." Scratching at the back of his neck, Billy said, "that is sort of how you make kids..." Face gone cold, the nasty bitch growled, "get out."

Billy opened his mouth to speak, and that was when she began screaming and hurling things at him. Terrified of what other people would think of the noise, the big man beat a hasty retreat, hustling out to the outer room. Nieve promptly slammed the door and latched it, leaving him staring at the ornately decorated doorway in confusion. _What the fuck just happened,_ he thought? Turning around to face the outer room and its collection of wedding gifts and swag, he found himself scratching his head in puzzlement. He hadn't even managed to wrangle a _pillow_!

A disturbed and depressed Billy the Human wandered back into the reception, looking puzzled and wondering if he could still find his friends. He'd considered going back to the rooms he'd been sharing with his wives, but the idea sort of left him feeling abandoned. "What're you doing here," demanded Hamest? Billy spun around to find the Lizard Princess approaching from his left. His face went red hot. Stopping before him, wearing a sexy red dress in shimmery material like scales, the curvy cougar looked him up and down. "Aren't you supposed to be consummating your marriage," she asked? Billy's flush deepened, telling her the truth of what had just happened. She'd heard rumblings of Nieve's _true_ feelings about this arrangement. Now she knew it for true.

Brushing his face with a fingertip, the Lizard Princess put on a winsome smile and said, "there's room with me..." Billy gulped at the way she said that, and his pants suddenly felt two sizes too small. At the same time... well, why the hell not? He'd done his best. He'd gone through with what his family and the Kingdom needed, and he'd gotten the shaft. Getting to bang Hamest made a nice consolation prize. As the pair turned to go, a surprised Olesia came wading through the crowd. She was just too late to catch them, though, as the elevator door shut before she could reach the buttons. _Damn,_ she thought. She'd been circulating through the crowd out of sheer boredom, trying to figure out what to do and wondering why she'd bothered. Somehow the target of her advance had presented himself one last time, and she'd missed him.

Shaking her head and muttering curses, the plump woman turned and walked back into the crowd. The place was starting to clear out. People were heading for home. Only the bored, the drunk, and a few troublemakers were still around. Strolling around in a fog, all but oblivious to the sights around her, the plump elemental found herself standing in front of one of the refreshment tables, staring temptation in the face. The King of Ooo had thought of everything. The presence of the Flame King and her delegation meant that there was plenty of food for elementals. They had rare fare including sulfur-eggs and carbon-cakes slathered in her favorite coal-tar frosting. It all looked so delicious, and she found her resolve starting to crumble.

She ate when she was depressed. She always found herself tempted to eat when she was down. Good food made her feel warm inside, and she could use a little _warm_ right now. "Hey, O," announced a familiar voice. The plump woman spun around to find a strange, yellow-skinned humanoid standing there. His face looked strangely familiar along with his long, spiky hair. "T-tom," she babbled. The yellow-skinned humanoid nodded. The former elemental offered her a bow. "D-don't," she said. That was the last thing she wanted to see. She didn't _feel_ like a princess tonight. She felt... forgotten. Giving her the eye, he declared, "you look great." "W-what're you doing here," she stammered? With a shrug, he admitted, "didn't expect to be invited, being a thief and all."

The thin fellow suggested they go out to the hall's open-air veranda to look out on the world. For want of anything else to do, the young princess agreed. Silence held sway as the pair crossed the hall. Heading out through the open french doors, the duo hunted around for a spot that wasn't occupied by some couple or other already. The sky above them was beautiful, with a bright, full moon. It was a night for romance, and Olesia couldn't help thinking of her rival upstairs now with Billy.

Tom could see the play of emotions across her pretty face. Lina had suggested that they could have been an item, but the former thief found himself thinking that there had never been a hope of that. Not really. He gave her a smile and said, "I'd hoped to run into you here." Olesia flushed. They hadn't exactly been the best of friends. "I wanted to say that I'm sorry," he said. "I was kind of a dick to you, and I'm sorry." He wanted closure on this piece of his life.

The plump woman asked the burning question that was on her mind. "Why did you do this," she asked? She meant the change. With a shrug, he said, "something Lina said to me. It was time for a change, O. It was time to be a different person than I was. That... wasn't going to happen back home. I was always going to be a thief, and I was always going to be Jake Guzik's bitch-boy. There's... There's only one place that leads." He was looking at getting extinguished. Permanently.

The pair stood there at the railing, staring out into the night. It was a chill night for an elemental, though Olesia imagined that the former elemental next to her scarcely noticed. Softly, she said, "do you want to go somewhere and talk?" With a sigh, he said, "kind of missed that chance, O. I think we both know that." The plump girl blushed to her hair and glanced away. She'd come down here in the sexiest dress she knew how to fashion. She'd... taken sleepers. She'd done all that to win a man who was upstairs right now with a woman twice her age–a woman who had power and money and influence. At the same time, she still felt that hunger. William was a very hard act to follow for a man like this.

Resting a hand on her shoulder, Tom said, "good luck, Olesia. This is probably goodbye." Without a further word, the tall man turned and strode back inside. He was quickly lost to sight as he slipped into the crowd–just like he always had. A part of her wondered how often she'd simply 'not noticed' _him_, as she was strolling about with her family's servants and bodyguards, heading out for a little shopping or to see a play–and ignoring all the _little_ people around her. Change. Her eyes went back to the refreshment table and all its enticements. With a sigh, the plump girl turned and headed in the opposite direction. There was a fireplace with her name on it in Princess Ingrid's suite. She could get herself a good night's sleep. There were still peanut-people on the loose in the Wildberry Kingdom and a peace to win.

Behind her, the Ice Queen finally freed herself from the demands of the irritating bitches who'd come here trolling to see if they could influence or seduce her husband. She'd spent much of the evening running interference for her honey–doing her best to spare him from yet more stress. "You look exhausted," Betty admonished her. Simone flushed. She _felt_ exhausted. She felt like she really was a thousand years old, honestly. The last few months hadn't been a picnic for her either. If Finn was the very visible face of their family–keeping this whole crazy business up and running and finding solutions for all the problems–she was working behind the scenes to smooth the ruffled feathers and keep people from being at each other's throats both inside the family and out. _We need a vacation,_ she thought. It hardly seemed like they were going to get one, though.

Looking around, she asked, "where's Finn?" In all the rushing around, she'd lost track. Uneasily, Betty burbled, "I think I saw him headed over to where Ingrid was. He might be with her." Shaking off her worry, she helped her daughter stand up, announcing, "you're going to bed." With a hand on both Simone's aching shoulders, the plump older woman steered the Ice Queen towards the elevator.

**Growing up is hard stuff for party-bears and elementals both. ******Let's see how long it takes Bronwyn to find out just how dangerous BUSINESS can be. Oh, and where could Finn have gotten to? :^)****


	15. Chapter 15

Chapter 15:

The room was among a block of rooms that Kim Kil Wan had obtained. Finn had given preferred access to his adopted brother and his family, providing rooms for Jake, Lady, and all the pups, knowing full well that Jake couldn't be bothered to show, and the pups were boycotting anything to do with Billy because of the death of Jr. As if it was Billy's fault their sister was as twisted as a black-briar. He'd known, going in, that pretty much nobody from that side of the family was coming, but he would hardly have expected Kim to sell these rooms to the highest bidder.

Standing in the middle of the oppulent suite, looking at the rich furnishings, the big man reflected on the ugly ways life had turned out. Kim had sought to punish his dad for being a philanderer and for abandoning his wife and kids. Finn had just been collateral damage. There had been strains there for _years_. Billy and Jake Jr. were just the last straws. His family was broken. His adopted dad had gotten himself killed messing around with a terrifying monster. His brother was living like a recluse, and his nieces and nephews weren't really speaking to him.

Finn had made the best life he could make out of the mess he'd been left with as a young adult. He'd thought he was doing pretty good. He, Simone, and Emeraude had raised three really good kids. Nights like tonight, he found himself really wondering. Had he done so well after all? He felt _alone_. It was a lot like the night he'd tried to sin with Bonnie. It was a lot like the night he had sinned with Lollipop. He was up here with a beautiful woman who wasn't his wife, standing in her room alone. Well, except for his bodyguards, they were alone.

They'd shocked the lady by drinking half a glass of beer before letting Finn have a sip of what was left. They'd set a pretty ugly tone on the dance floor by literally following the pair of them as they danced. It would have been laugh-out-loud, rollin'-on-the-floor, if it wasn't so awful. _Why are you here,_ he wondered, as he listened to the lady primping in the toilet? He knew what she was doing. It was the same thing a couple of princesses had done over the years of his misspent youth.

Chelsea came out dressed in a soft nightgown, looking altogether bewitching. A corner of Finn's mind was aware of the lust. He had a hunger to introduce this woman to his meat-stick, and that honestly made him sad. He was saddened not to have outgrown that. At the same time, why had he really come up here if not for that? He had no idea _why_ he was here.

The little woman came forward and settled on the edge of the bed as if in invitation. The King of Ooo stared at the strange woman for several minutes. Chelsea held her breath, even as she felt the urge. So close. He was within reach. If she could scratch him even once with her venomed nails! Except, he had the Quicksilver Curse flowing in him! He could move out of reach quick as thought! She needed him distracted–preferably in an act of passion where it would be perfectly _normal_ for her to claw him.

"Why don't you join me," she murmured? Finn turned and retrieved the chair that sat by her makeup table and sat himself down on it, leaving her staring at him. She was shocked. Did he know? Did he suspect? _If he suspected, you'd be dead,_ she thought. At the least, he'd have sicced his bodyguards on her. Likely he would never have even danced with her, much less come up here. _Principled,_ she thought. This man who was fucking fourteen different women was trying to act as if he was _principled_?!

"How do you know Kim," he asked? The question came from out of the blue and made her very nervous. "Business," she replied. "He supports the opera. You understand. Patronage." Finn nodded. It sounded like the sort of thing that his nephew would do. Kim was forever trying to show himself to be a man of means and culture, even though he thought his dad was a bum. At the same time, Finn knew he needed to step up his own game. Royals expected to be royally entertained when they visited. There had been little or no time for it when they were fighting for their lives against the Lich and his army of undead. Now times were different. He couldn't run the world as if it were constantly at war. The big man filed that away as he returned his focus on the conversation in front of him.

"You don't have to keep your distance," she offered. The King countered with, "does Kim?" Chelsea flushed. Was he calling her a ho?! "It's the cost of the game at this level," she retorted. "I scratch his back. He scratches mine. It's business..." Finn flushed. Maja had said as much the last time he'd tried to spend time on her. She'd shooed him out in favor of working on the project. Business. He was tired of business.

Changing tacks, the pale beauty offered, "you married your son to the leader of Muscle Kingdom. You know how the game is played..." Letting the silk gown slip from her shoulder, she said, "I'm just offering a little nookie. For favors to be named later. I'm a woman. This is just one of my assets..." A man could lose his soul in all the 'favors'. "I don't like this," Finn muttered. "I didn't want this life for my boy. I... he was happy. He was a good dad, and he was happy." "He's brought another kingdom into your grasp," Chelsea reminded him. "He's now a prince in his own right. I'd think you'd be happy..." Finn smiled a bitter smile. "Power doesn't bring you happiness," Finn told her. "It brings conflict and death..."

"You sound like you could use a chance to relax and unwind," Chelsea murmured. "C'mon. I'll give you a massage..." The big man rose, as if in response to her offer. He stood there staring at her, and she silently urged him to come to her. She was wearing her most potent polish. She needed one scratch. She had a plan for the guards–lure them in while they tried to revive him. She'd play the horrified woman and claim that he expired–that his heart must have given out–in the middle of the act. She'd done it before to get out from under a murder charge. She'd been out of the country before they figured out he'd been poisoned.

Instead of accepting the chance to lose his pain in her sexuality, the King of Ooo turned to go, saying, "thanks for listening." She watched him as he crossed the room, and she silently pleaded with him to change course each time he glanced back at her. Chelsea howled frustration when he'd shut the door. She'd been so close! Usually men couldn't _wait_ to get nasty! What the hell was wrong with _him_?!

The King of Ooo headed out with his bodyguards in tow, his mind churning on ugly old memories. Bonnie had put herself in a trick-bag once-upon-a-time, and he'd placed himself in the service of a man he'd believed to be a hero-king. It had been years since he'd thought about those days. That time had helped to poison his relationship with Bonnie. They had grown to care for each other again and even managed to rekindle the love that had seen Bonnie willing to go through 'growing up' all over again to be with him. Still, he'd never forgotten those days or the previous _King of Ooo_.

The reception was empty when he arrived there–the buffet tables picked clean. He hadn't eaten. Hurletta had intended to get him squared away with dinner, but she'd gotten pulled away. In the end, he'd spent the evening and much of the day with an empty belly, and his body was reminding him of that fact. He was wrung out and exhausted, feeling down deep at the bottom. There was one thing that could cheer him, though. Heading across the empty hall, the King boarded one of the guarded elevators and headed up to the level where the Royal Family was sleeping this night.

As the first rays of the sun came streaming through the hotel windows a few hours later, Betty awoke to her daughter's soft snoring. Keyed up as she was, Simone had taken _hours_ to get to sleep. Betty had resorted to making up a glass of warm milk–just like she used to do it for Patrick. In repose, the younger woman looked calm and at peace. This was killing her. It felt that way. Betty felt like a coward because she'd abandoned the job that she'd so heavily lobbied and fought for. She felt guilty because she'd killed her husband with her quest to take the Grand Master's throne. She'd felt so guilty, that she'd walked away from it, little realizing that their strange child would get stuck with it in her stead.

Now, the older woman felt like a horrible coward for sticking her child with the mess she'd made. They couldn't walk away. She knew they couldn't walk away and _leave_ a power-vacuum in the chaotic mess that was Wizard City. At the same time, she wanted Simone _out_ of the business of rushing around dealing with the hyper-moronic idea of the week from her insane _subjects_. The troubles surrounding Finn were doing nothing at all to help. She sensed that the younger woman felt a weight of _guilt_ for all that had happened. It was preying on her, which helped Betty's peace of mind not at all.

They were supposed to be getting back today. The wedding was over, and there was yet another mess in Wiz City. Some loon had managed to burn down six city-blocks with an out-of-control experiment. There were a lot of injuries and possibly some deaths. Making a decision of her own, the plump woman decided it could wait. It could wait a little while. Kissing Simone's cheek, she left her daughter sleeping.

Heading outside, she was startled to find Finn curled up in the chair there. She'd expected to see him later, maybe. She'd thought he would be with Ingrid. It said something about where _his_ mind was that he was here in that chair instead. He was just as worried about Simone as she was worried about him. Betty had never seen two people who loved each other quite like this. It would have been cute if it wasn't afflicting them. _You have to fix this,_ she thought. Guilt was tearing the pair of them apart inside.

Kneeling at the big man's side, she shook him. Sitting up, he groaned softly, stretching his legs. "Why're you sleeping in that chair," she chided him? Scratching, he said, "you guys were sleeping. Didn't want to wake you." Betty flushed. His blue eyes burned into hers, and she found herself glancing away. Did he know? Rising, he walked over to the bedroom. She didn't want him waking Simone, but she wasn't sure she should stop him. Far from waking her, the big man stood there a moment, staring into the room as if staring at a far-away prize. Turning away from the door, he said, "I asked them to send up breakfast, but I'm'a tell them to stop..."

He brushed past her on his way to the door–the barest of contacts. As his hand gripped the knob, she told him, "you have to stop feeling guilty..." His back went stiff. Then, after a moment, he relaxed. As his fingers turned the knob, he replied, "you first." Betty flushed to her hair. She had absolutely nothing to say to that. The moment was over just like that, as her husband shut the door behind him.

Hundreds of miles to the north east, Patrick Petrikov rubbed at his bleary eyes in discomfort. They'd been at it all night. Bronwyn had been insistent on going through every document and deposition. She wanted to see every scrap of evidence. It didn't make sense to Patrick. She had her answer. Dude was creepin' on his wife with some other dude's girl. He'd fucked up and ate a dagger a few million times. So what? Shit happened all over the civilized kingdoms like that. Patrick ought to know. He'd _partaken_. He wasn't proud to know he'd done the same dumbass stuff this dude had done. He was just grateful that Fi found it within her to give him another chance. He hoped someday Cerelia could forgive him taking advantage.

"This doesn't make sense," muttered Bronwyn. Rubbing at his eyes and yawning, the wizard said, "'course it does... Dude was far from home. You said he's done this shit for years..." Bronwyn felt her face go warm. At the same time, this man just did not seem to get it. "On the _surface_, it makes sense," she agreed, "but when you dig, it all falls apart." Resting his chin on the palm of his left hand, Patrick glared at her. He'd done everything he could to piece this together. He didn't _want_ to be digging into this. He wanted sleep. It helped not at all that the chill air of his cheap hotel room had all four of her knockers trying to jump out at him, making four big dents in the silk shirt she was wearing.

Bronwyn herself was apparently tired enough that she couldn't always remember what she was wearing, and she kept flashing those heavy knobs at him, letting him know they were big enough to fill that shirt and firm enough that she didn't need a bra. "This girl cheated all the time," Patrick grumbled. "Her husband knew about some of it. People he knew said he was upset." It made perfect sense the guy just decided he'd had enough. "Then answer me this," rumbled the plush-puppy. "Why do all his chums say he was at work?" Patrick rolled his eyes. He thought that was obvious. "His supervisor too," Bronwyn insisted?

Patrick frowned at her uneasily. That had bothered him too. Friends might have been covering for their buddy. His boss? As Bronwyn began to launch into all the inconsistencies, a knocking came at the door. Sliding his Instrument back on his finger, Patrick called out, "come in." To his surprise, Fionna came bustling through the door. He stared at her in surprise. He wasn't sure he wasn't hallucinating. "Patrick," Fi growled. "I got up at three in the morning to get here with the kids, for Globsake..."

The young wizard leapt to his feet and rushed her. As Bronwyn glared at his back, he snatched the Bad Bunny off her feet and twirled her around. Setting her down, he threw his arms around her and hugged her hard as he could, and Fionna was a little startled to realize he was crying. Her eyes were on Bronwyn. "What're you doing here," she asked? She and the pups weren't exactly friendly these days. Bronwyn's dad had been kind of a dick to Lollipop, and he'd been a relentless asshole to Billy over Jake Jr. "Your husband was helping me understand how it was that my father's employee came to grief," Bronwyn retorted.

It was her 'I'm smarter than you' attitude. Blitz the dummy with big words to make her feel bad. Fionna brushed her off with, "clearly no further progress can be made at the moment, as it's abundantly obvious Mr. Petrikov has not had adequate rest. He's been committed to the defense of the border for the last few weeks, and as ranking general of the privy council it's my duty to see that he has adequate time to recuperate." The half-bear goggled at the blonde bombshell. "I will converse with you at some other opportunity," Fi continued. "In the now, I think I shall see that Mr. Petrikov achieves a healthy slumber."

Crossing the room, she took Bronwyn by the arm and led her back to the door. "The reports," Bronwyn howled! In the blink of an eye, the Bad Bunny recrossed the room, scraped the documents and diagrams into the bag they'd come in, blinked back to the door and shoved them into the she-bear's arms before shutting the door in her face. "Thanks, babe," Patrick yawned. "I thought she'd keep me at that table all day." Fionna turned from the door, and she saw ghosts of her father's words in her husband's face. He looked exhausted–like he was carrying the world.

Remembering her mother's example, the tall girl strode across the room, took her hubby by the arm, and steered him for the bed. She made him get out of his shoes and pants and lay back, and he was unconscious almost as soon as his head hit the pillow. Crossing the room once more, she hefted the basket with Nadine and Mona, finding both still asleep. That wouldn't last long. There was work to be done–the work of a mom instead of a general.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, Bonnibel Bubblegum shoved her plate away from her. "Not the same as Finn, eh," chuckled Cherry? The candy-monarch blushed. Then she started laughing. No, it wasn't. She would get too wrapped up in how totally unhealthy too much sugar was to make anything as tasty as what Finn cooked. "My problem is multi-tasking," Cherry admitted, as she collected the plate. "I don't spend the time needed to get anything done to satisfaction, so it all comes out mediocre." Finn was man enough not to complain.

"I don't know where we go from here," Bonnie burbled. They'd spent half the night talking. It was aimless talk, mostly. Some of it was griping about the buttons they were both pushing. Some of it was angst over their current situation. A lot of it was the sort of helpless chatter that women resorted to when they were looking for a man to fix what was ailing them, when they well knew the trouble was inside themselves.

Cherry sat down before her, resting her chin on the heel of her hand. Her dark eyes were inscrutable. "How do you _do_ that," Bonnie demanded? "Do what," asked the lawyer? "Just look like that," Bonnie complained?! She _hated_ that damnable poker face. "I'm a lawyer, Bonnie," the fallen attorney reminded her. "It was part of the job." Sitting up, she said, "we get help..." The tall woman stared at her with a frown. "We need help, Bonnie. All of us," said Cherry. Gesturing, the little woman said, "we all _talked_ about it, but nobody's really putting energy into it. We're... This whole thing is going to come apart if we don't start getting the help we need. Finn's doing it..." Leaning forward, the former attorney said, "I'll promise to seek help. I want the same promise from you. You need it as much as I do. You're... carrying burdens."

Bonnie wanted to refute that. She wanted badly to claim that she was above such things. A voice from somewhere deep inside–sounding suspiciously like Finn's voice–called her a liar. "I'm...," she started to say. "Say it, Bonnie," the little woman murmured. "Please. For your own good." "I'm carrying burdens," the candy-monarch admitted. "Ok. I'm carrying... a lot. Ok... Ok... I'll... I'll get some help." Her phone chimed. Drawing it out of the pocket of her robe, the tall princess frowned. "Fuck," she grumbled. "Ramona's demanding a meeting." "When," Cherry replied? "Right flippin' now," muttered Bonnie. "We're already late."

"You go first," Cherry told her. "I'll clean this up." "Lollipop can clean it," Bonnie replied. "It's not like we haven't both seen it before." Laughing and blushing, Cherry agreed with that. Bonnie had walked in to find her riding Finn like a horse in her predecessor's quarters in the Vaults. Not to be outdone, the princess had proceeded to just sit down on his face, bold as you please.

Washed and dressed, the pair climbed into a car, bodyguards in tow, for the trip back to the palace. "Did you ever get to sing with Finn," Bonnie murmured? Cherry had shocked her by singing in the shower. "A long time ago," Cherry admitted, "when Root-Beer was alive. You?" "Same," Bonnie replied. "We were... trying to get into a Door Lord's sanctum. It was Finn's idea to sing to get the door to open. He organized the whole thing. It's crazy, but I was already on the pathway to being a fool–to hurting him to indulge my lust for Marceline. He told me just what I was doing and just how much it was hurting him. And I didn't listen." "First step to getting our shit together," Cherry murmured. "Coming clean about the things we've done. So what's Tequila Princess so pissed off about?"

By the time the car pulled into the garage under the palace, the candy-monarch and her former subject had gone around the problem on the table a half-dozen times. Neither knew quite what to make of the whole thing. Ramona had been on good terms with Coca Princess for decades. It was out of character for the two to be at each other's throats like this. At the same time, it was more trouble when they were barely holding their own _here_ on the far side of the world. They really didn't have time for another conflict across the ocean. Finn had been named King of Ooo, but that was starting to sound more like a suggestion than a fact.

The big man himself was just reaching the door as they arrived at the audience hall. "I was hoping you'd be here," said he. "Blanca's not so good with common." Bonnie was fluent in Spanish, having learned it in her endless wanderings before settling _here_. He waited for the pair to reach him before walking through the door. It was odd on its face. Typically, he would have charged right in, heedless of his own lack of skill with language or anything else.

More was coming though. Coca Princess started right in on them the minute they were through the door. She especially gave Finn the rough side of her tongue, swearing at him in Spanish and calling him a number of unflattering names. It took a moment for Bonnie to remember that Finn had _dated_ Ramona once upon a time–a factoid Blanca probably remembered. It sometimes seemed that Finn had spent his youth chasing princesses and ended up with nothing and nobody until Simone fell into his life. _No,_ Bonnie thought. _We all pissed away our chances with _him_. We wanted more than we thought he had to offer, so we dumped him._ It was an ugly epiphany.

As she sat herself at his right hand–the seat Simone so often occupied–Bonnie found herself thinking that might well have been _her_ spot if she hadn't wanted somebody more _mature and exciting_. Cherry took the chair on his left. It was just the three of them today. Likely the others were gone–headed home to deal with their own business. She was blessed to have a son, even if she'd been forced to basically _steal_ him. She'd been failing at that too–headed down the road to endless, eternal loneliness, just like Marcie.

Clearing her throat, Bonnie interrupted Blanca's abusive diatribe. "You stand before the King of Ooo," she announced. "How may we serve you?" The fat woman might have started swearing at them again, but Ramona interrupted, "she thinks I'm stealing her precious coca-leaves. Somebody's been lieing to her–telling her that I'm mixing coca into my fabulous Tequila-Tea." Cherry grimaced. She'd had a glass of tequila. Once. Finn had a saying he'd brought from Ramona's homeland. One tequila. Two tequila. Three tequila. Floor. She scarcely had any idea how potent tequila mixed with coca-leaves would be, nor did she really want to find out.

Blanca turned and began hurling insults and threats, mixed with a half-assed explanation of her suspicions. It was clear that somebody was cleaning out some of her fields, but Bonnie had her doubts about Blanca's explanation. The candy-monarch turned to Finn. "What are your thoughts, First Minister," Finn rumbled? That took her by surprise. She was expecting him to hit them with some pithy idea he'd made up on the spot. His blue eyes burned into hers. Flushing, the tall princess stammered, "l-let's... let's think this through." Unused to surprises and thinking on her feet, she was buying time now, and she made Tequila Princess explain the provenance of her new tea. That hardly satisfied Blanca, who kept interrupting, suggesting and insinuating how each new ingredient might have been made from her coca-leaves.

Bonnie turned to her husband, looking for him to speak. That was what these two wanted. She'd come to see that her fellow mopheads didn't always agree with what Finn had to say, but they were more willing to listen to him–a _man_–than one of their fellow women. Some of it was cold fear of what he might do if they didn't. Some of it was the very hands-on way he'd solved their problems in the past. A lot of it was that hormonal reaction down deep in the primitive part of their brains. It wasn't the way Bonnie herself had wanted to do business, but she saw how it could work. More to the point, she didn't want to spend time arguing with these two today. She had business with her son to attend to.

"How do these things work," Finn asked? At her frown of puzzlement, the big man prompted, "what is the science involved, First Minister...?" Her face flushed. _Of course,_ she thought. _It's right there in front of me!_ "Coca-leaves would make a very bad combination with alcohol," opined the tall princess. "You'd be likely to kill somebody if you tried it. The two drugs don't mix very well. I don't think the person stealing Blanca's harvest is involved in the tequila trade."

"Let us have no more talk of war," said Finn. "First-Minister, there is a man called Javier Falcón in Tequila Kingdom. Please hire him to investigate this matter on my behalf." Rising, the big man strode for the door, leaving Bonnie and Cherry in their places and a stunned Blanca staring at his back. She wasn't alone. Bonnie was also staring at her husband. "Ok," she muttered. "What just happened?" Finn deferring to _her_?! Something was wrong with him. Cherry got things back on track, saying, "I know of Javier Falcón. I'll get this set up. We'll find out what's behind this."

The two women found their husband in his office alone. A worried-looking Breakfast was seated at her desk, glancing back and forth to the door and the document he'd handed her to be edited and typed-up. Her eyes said it. Something wasn't right. Bonnie strode right up to the door and barged in, when Cherry might have hung back and quizzed the fallen princess on what she'd seen. "Hey," Finn greeted her. He had his nose in the account books. Hurletta had been after him to get through them for _weeks_. Now he was reading them and taking notes. Bonnie vaguely remembered Simone saying that she'd always taken care of the books at the treehouse. Finn was too easily bored. His ADHD wouldn't let him stay focused long enough to manage it. He'd always handled money by the seat of his pants.

"Hey, honey," said Cherry. "We should talk about some stuff..." "Can't today," said he. "Got to get through these. I've put it off too long. That's irresponsible. And I have to go work on this arm this afternoon with Dr. Chips so I'm safe to change the kids diapers..." Bonnie opened her mouth to speak and shut it again. That... didn't sound like her husband. "I'll have Beeps put some time in my calendar tomorrow morning," he said. "Really need to get through this. I owe Hurletta some time this evening, and I don't want to face her with this not finished." That was that. Cherry took Bonnie by the sleeve of her dress and half-dragged her out of there. The King shut his door and locked it, sealing out all distractions and disturbances. Burying himself in his work, the big man grappled with the ledgers and reports while a worried Breakfast sat staring at the door. Late that afternoon, the King finally opened the door to find his wife sitting there waiting in worry. "I'll need to speak to Lollipop tomorrow," he said. Kneeling at her side, the big man thanked her for all she'd done for him. Kissing her cheek, he rose and got on his way. The fallen princess stared at his back in fear. Then, when he'd gone, she rushed off to find one of the others. Something was _very_ wrong with their husband.

**Hmm... What's going on with Finn? And what does he know?**


	16. Chapter 16

Chapter 16:

The Peanuts were on the run. Without their castles, and with the weight of multiple kingdoms against them, the Peanuts were being driven back and back. It was still costing lives. Precious lives were being burned up–sometimes literally–and it was reaping an emotional toll on Olesia. Even when the Peanut-folk stood and fought them–_earning_ death–she still felt the loss. Those were husbands. They were fathers and brothers. Women and children across the face of the Peanut Kingdom were losing the men who supported their lives. It was a _tragedy_–and all over one man's foolish pride.

Striding up beside her, Ingrid announced, "I think you can stay in the camp today." The elemental's eyes flicked up to hers. She _couldn't_ have heard that right. A glance at her superior showed her concern was well founded. This was more of the same. "We've got them cornered," said the tall princess. "They're down in the barrens now... clustered around the ruins. We've got them." "Which means you'll need me _more_, not less," said Olesia. "Trapped rats and all that." Stepping off, her posture suggesting she was in a snit, the plump princess murmured, "there's nothing I can accidentally burn here. I can break them now. You just focus on keeping them from running again."

The Warrior Princess smirked at her back. Yes, that was so very much better. No moping. It was unbecoming of a grown-woman after all. Part of her enjoyed riling the little bitch up, just to see the reaction. Oh, she had a hard little spine hidden inside. She might be twentieth in line for the throne or some such, but she was still quite the _princess_.

The Minister of War held her usual morning conference, gathering in all the disparate leaders of the various wings of the army. Things were going better these days. The miscellaneous feuds had been settled and the anger calmed somewhat. The Slime Folk were cooperating with the Froyo people and vice versa. It was, to Olesia Okonski's eyes, the best they could hope for among people who had been at war with each other not so long ago.

Prime Minister Plantain was present with his own war-council, and he had a fair amount to tell them about what he'd learned. As the tall banana explained the disposition of the Peanut Prince's forces and the defenses they'd erected, Olesia began to grow more comfortable. The peanut-folk had done their best to dig trenches and lay out defenses. Unfortunately for them, the Dipped had done horrific things to the soil, changing it from the rich, fertile loam that she'd spent so much time trying not to burn these last few weeks into a coarse, grey _dust_ that threatened to blow away if you only looked at it wrong. They'd had a helluva time digging trenches in dirt that tended to collapse without any kind of organic matter to bind it.

Their defenses, at the moment, consisted of the few shells of buildings that still stood here, flanked by wire fencing and whatever scraps of wood they could pull together to support their breastworks. Much of it was flammable. It was an ugly thought, but one the plump woman had gotten herself used to. She was a deadly threat in a world that had so much in it that burned. It was a sobering thought. She'd cried herself to sleep after one unpleasant incident where a fire had gotten away from her. Plantain forgave her, but she'd had trouble forgiving herself. Now, they were coming down to the close of things. The only things to burn here were the peanuts and their pathetic excuse for a bastion. The plump girl turned her sights to the distant patch of lifeless ground. Lady Sarah would fix things when they were done here. In the now, this was her battlefield. It was time to bring the foe to heel.

In the Candy Kingdom, Chelsea awoke to the insistent buzzing of her phone. She'd been out late the previous night. Part of it was drowning her sorrows. She'd been oh, so close to Finn the Human. She'd had him in her quarters! And somehow she had failed to seal the deal. It was mad! It was insane that somehow he would turn her down that way. It... stung.

She was stung by the very idea that a man would choose to _talk_ instead of coming to bed with her. It stung that he wasn't overwhelmed by her beauty. She'd stood staring at a mirror for _hours_, wondering. Was she getting old? Was she losing her touch? Was something wrong? She'd drank... a _lot_ last night. She'd drank so much, she hardly remembered any of it.

As the phone began to ring again, Fedir came through the door. He stood there a moment, staring at her. Then, he said, "your business partner is calling. She call me after you fail to answer." Annoyed, Chelsea snatched the phone off the charger, snarling, "what?!" "What," Peihong repeated? "You owe me a scientist." "I'm _working_ it," Chelsea retorted. "I've got men in place to raid the science center _tonight_. There's a conference." There was silence on the other end. "I have a man working on finishing our rockets," said Peihong. "I need a payload. He can't finish until he has the size of the payload." They needed the bombs. At least, they needed a size and weight for one. "I'll have an egghead tonight," muttered Chelsea. The ogress hung up in her face.

The evil woman threw herself back on her back, howling her frustration. She lay there a long, long while, shouting curses and threats. She wanted to skin the bitch. She wanted to flay that pale skin off her body. She wanted to chop her tits off and grind them up. She wanted to make the bitch _suffer_.

Sitting up suddenly, she found Fedir standing there at the door. Motioning for him to come to her bedside, she studied the former bandit. Cautiously, he approached her. He didn't know how long the venom on her nails was good. "I got home last night," she murmured. "You must have brought me home. That was good." Flushing, he said, "that was Lorenz." "I'll have to thank Lorenz then," she said in airy tones. Soberly, he told her, "you slashed his face last night with your nails. I had to make his body disappear." Chelsea goggled at him. She'd been _grooming_ Lorenz! He'd seemed like a loyal man. "_Fuck_," she howled!

"Is there else, Lady," Fedir asked? Her eyes came back to his. He was steady. Steady, faithful Fedir. She always came back to him. It was a strange wonder. She always came back to this man. "Are we ready," she asked? "We could have used another hundred men," he admitted. Frowning, Chelsea rumbled, "I thought Bronwyn was back on the job..." "She is asking questions," Fedir replied. That answer set off another ugly tirade from the evil witch. She was muttering very dangerous things. This Bronwyn wasn't a nobody like the party-bear. Her family had money and connections.

"Here's how we're going to do this thing," Chelsea rumbled. Fedir blanched. She was about to ask him to do something very dangerous–maybe suicidal. At the same time, she could kill him right now. Even if he got out of her presence, she had men in seemingly every low place imaginable. He might not even see the dagger coming. He had to get away. Far away. In the now, he listened.

Several floors above them, Nieve the Muscle Princess awoke from a glorious sleep to a sudden bright light. The maid had just thrown back the curtains on her, letting in painfully bright sunlight. The young princess opened her mouth to start shouting and shut it again when she caught sight of her grandmother standing there in the doorway. Her blood ran cold as the old hag asked, "how goes the honeymoon?" Nieve flushed.

Eyes burning into Nieve's, Odessa came striding across the room. Sitting down on the edge of her bed, the old woman asked, "how was your wedding night?" "Uh... It's... Things are going great," Nieve replied! "And the wedding night," Odessa pressed? "Successful?" Flushing, Nieve lied, "it was great! He's well... _experienced_ as you might imagine...!" Odessa pounced, demanding, "then why was he seen with that scaly cougar on his arm twice in the last week?"

Nieve sputtered protests, but Odessa cut her off, declaring, "you have just one job right now, Nieve. That job is to keep that man's dick wet. You're failing. Against a middle-aged has-been. You have two choices. Come back with a Royal Heir in your belly or don't come back at all. Clear, my girl? I'll expect a blow-by-blow description of the event and a positive pregnancy test." Without another word, the nasty old woman rose and strode out, leaving her grand-daughter red-faced and in tears. The angry young woman hurled curses–and her pillows–at the door.

As Nieve came to grips with her fears, in Wildberry Kingdom a nervous Olesia sat her mount beside Princess Ingrid, _waiting_. They'd sent a soldier ahead under flag of truce. Ingrid, per the King's instructions, was giving the Peanut Prince one last chance to throw in the towel. Olesia hoped he would take it, but she was certain of what his answer would be. He would be put to death. The King had made that clear. He'd taken this too far, and too many lives had been lost. At the same time, his followers could be spared. They could go home to their families.

As the young woman watched, the berry-person sent as an envoy came riding back. The plump princess felt hope rise. She found herself hoping they could get through this until the peanut-folk showered the envoy with arrows, slaughtering him and more than slaughtering him. It was needless violence, much like they'd done to the envoy at Harrow. "It is death, then," said Olesia, and even to Ingrid it sounded awful and terrifying. "They'll try to drown you," the Warrior Princess reminded her. In a voice like stone grinding stone, the elemental replied, "let them..."

Pointing, Olesia sent a massive bolt of flame hurtling at the enemy lines. That bolt exploded in a horrifyingly _massive_ conflagration. Ingrid could _see_ men burning alive through her spyglass. "Remind me not to piss you off," huffed the soldier. Turning to her officers, the tall woman snarled, "_charge_!" Booting her wolf into motion, the young elemental rushed into battle right alongside her.

The battle was joined immediately, with the peanuts unleashing cannons and firing clouds of arrows and darts. As the range closed, men on both sides died, compounding the tragedy of this stupid, _pointless_ war. Olesia found herself in the thick of things, with apocalyptic violence swirling around her. Careful of her allies, the young woman unleashed smaller strikes against the peanuts, killing a few here and there, always looking for a chance to end things with one good strike. Unfortunately, Ingrid being Ingrid and down at the bottom of her patience besides, the Warrior Princess waded right in, leaving no time to organize or look for weakness.

The battle see-sawed back and forth, with men coming to grips at close range with bows and guns and swords all at once, and Olesia found herself swept apart from the older woman in the swirling melee. As the young princess searched this way and that, a catapult hurled a cask of water, barely missing her. A second catapult joined the fray as she struck at the first. Both seemed to have been cobbled together from steel scrap, making them frustratingly difficult to destroy. The elemental torched the gun captain of the first machine, but the machine itself was dug in deep. As the second machine began to find the range, she killed a second gun captain. _Closer,_ she decided. She couldn't stay _here_.

As a second and then a third cask of icy water slammed down in the spot where she'd stopped, the plush princess charged the first catapult. The men in the pit panicked. The catapults were supposed to support each other, but they hadn't let themselves think too much about what it meant to get this woman's personal attention. Two men fled immediately. Two others leveled weapons, preparing to sell themselves dearly, as the wolf leaped the parapet, landing down in the pit with them.

Olesia slaughtered the nearest fellow, as he went to smash open a heavy valve. As the soldiers fired steel arrows at her, the new-minted soldier held her ground. There was water in the pipe. That was deadly for her. Of course, as the peanuts had been learning, so had she. The plump girl heated the air far in front of her, causing arrows to go awry and spoiling the soldiers' aim. That bought her time to get them sorted out. The man on the left was a better shot, and she set him alight, turning him into a human candle. Blotting the screams out of her mind, the elemental turned to the other man, giving him a chance to run. Instead, he charged. _Alrighty, then,_ she decided, as she burned him down to his boots. And then it was time to move. Water-casks were falling on the pit now, aiming to drown her.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, Billy stood stealing time with Hamest in defiance of the ugly _agreement_ his family had made. It had honestly been _days_ since he'd seen Nieve, and their _relationship_ had improved not at all. The younger woman had been smugly threatening, suggesting she would blacken his reputation–making everyone in the world think he was an abuser and rapist. Billy had stayed away from her as best he could. It hadn't been hard to do that when the Lizard Princess was so happy to distract him.

He'd brought Hamest up to the peak of the Candy Palace to look out on the vastness of Bonnie's personal empire. The strange woman from the east was in absolute awe. It was one thing to pass through the gates and through the warren of streets, seeing all the wonders the Candy Kingdom had to offer. It was quite another to look down on it from above to see just how grand it all was. Hamest had grown up in the shadows of the fallen civilization that had preceded her kingdom. As a child, she'd day-dreamed of what that world had been like. Now, looking down on Bonnie's kingdom, she could see some of those dreams brought to life.

Of course the endless honking horns was annoying.

"I see why he fought so hard for this," the blonde murmured. "He fought hard for everybody to have this," Billy agreed. "It's the legacy of the human race... His people blew it all up feuding over nothing. Now Bonnie's managed to salvage some of it." Hamest nodded, her mind going down old, worn pathways. She'd collected books and treasures, hoping to capture a _piece_ of this. Now she found herself wanting to ask a very dangerous question. Billy was heir to all of this. Their child might hold a piece of this in his hands. As the pretty, older woman turned to her companion to ask a deadly question, a voice from below intruded with the problem of the day.

Billy turned to the stairs to find a trio of lizard-folk coming up. They looked travel-worn and dusty, seeming as though they'd been riding for days, and they'd clearly not stopped to rest when they reached the city. Instead, they'd come straight here, looking for their mistress. Before Billy could say a word, they were on their knees at the lady's feet, laying out dangerous news–news that had him immediately angry at Hamest. And shortly after that, he was headed down the stairs, half-dragging his would-be wife, headed for the one man with the power to get this mess straightened out.

The ruckus came to the King of Ooo as he was finishing up the latest installment of the task that had bedeviled him for the last few weeks. Sarah's gift of a replacement arm had been almost as much a _trial_ as a boon. He'd been having a helluva time getting used to it, and Sarah herself had been almost too busy to be bothered adjusting it. He'd been forced to _train_ himself to make it work. And that had meant stretching the limits of his mental capacity under the strict supervision of Dr. Chips.

He was three hours in this morning, and close to tears of rage both at the doctor and at himself, as he struggled with the prescribed therapy. "Good, Finn," cried Dr. Chips. "Very good." Finn nodded, though his face was covered in sweat and focused with laser precision on the task in front of him. It was not something that Simone had ever seen him sweat over before. In times not long past, he would have been sweating over a workout or sweating out the arduous task of hauling up firewood or even sweating over their stove as he cooked up supper. Today he was sweating over the job of putting together a puzzle. He was sweating because his arm was not cooperating. Or rather he'd ended up with a new one that felt completely different than the one he'd had for the last twenty-plus years of his life.

He'd taken the puzzle apart twenty times today and put it back together a like number. It was getting easier, but it was costing him a lot to get it done. He was exhausted. She could tell he was exhausted, and she'd been lobbying the rest of the family to keep Billy right where he was a little longer. Her husband needed some rest. He wasn't a young man anymore. When Dr. Chips would have asked the big man to do it again–one last time for the day–the pretty wizard intervened. Resting her hands on Finn's shaking shoulders, she said, "I think that's enough, doctor."

The doctor looked as if he might argue that, but the Ice Queen's expression warned him that he might not like the results. As the doctor gathered up the things he'd brought for today's therapy, Simone Mertens retrieved a towel and rubbed down her husband's quavering shoulders, drying the sweat covering him. "I'm sorry I'm such a fuck-up," he muttered. The tall woman shushed him. He was in one of his self-destructive funkes today. Honestly, she couldn't remember the last time he'd been his old happy-go-lucky self. A dark corner of her mind suggested it was the day she'd decided to wander off on a political campaign that helped nobody–not even the woman who wanted it.

It was anger whispering dark thoughts into her mind. She was angry at her mother. Still. She was angry that Betty Grof-Petrikov had decided to blow up their family. She sometimes felt that if her mother hadn't dragged them down this road, her father would still be alive. And all of that served as a screen against the anger she had for herself. She'd had everything–most everything. She'd had a wonderfully _unique_ family and six lovely children to raise. She'd had a wonderful husband that she'd shared–happily–with one of the closest friends she'd ever had in her short life. And she'd led them all _here_.

She'd skirted the edge of cheating on her husband with her mother all but egging her on with a nudge and a wink. If she let herself once be honest, the only reason she hadn't was that most of those men had been too terrified of her father's once-ugly reputation to try anything more than putting their hands on her ass or tits. She knew she'd come close to ending up in bed with another man because she'd lacked the spine to stand up to Betty and her incessant demands that she 'play nice' with the disgusting shits who held the power in Wizard City. Truth be told, if her mother had pushed, she'd have gone along with it, just like she'd gone along with putting Emeraude's life at risk to win the Matriarch's support.

Hugging Finn, the tall woman kissed his cheek, and she finally felt him relax. He was down deep in an ugly place, still blaming himself for something that had only been _partly_ his fault. He'd been rolling with the punches, and she'd thrown a lot of those punches herself. _Anger doesn't help,_ she reminded herself. Being angry at Betty–who was doing a lot of being angry at herself–wasn't going to bring back their old life. Instead, she focused on what she had now. She _still_ had a wonderful husband, who was doing all he could for her and everyone else in their mad little family. The tall woman knelt beside him and held onto him, whispering soothing words into his ear. She _still_ loved him more than anything else in the world.

As she knelt there, a commotion outside announced the intrusion of their unhappy reality. Someone needed the King of Ooo. Simone Mertens stood up, straightening her dress in reflexive habit. She wore the big poofy dresses almost as a reminder of her father. When Finn would have taken her hand with his left–his remaining _natural_ hand–she moved to his right and took the other one as her mom came in, leading a pack of people, including the Lizard Princess herself.

The pack began talking at once, shouting over each other to deliver today's dose of bad news. Simone whistled harshly, cutting off the blather. "One at a time," she growled. "Mom?" Betty turned to their husband and said, "that army that menaced the Lizard Kingdom is back. They're prowling around in the hinterlands, probing at some of the outlying villages." Finn glanced at Hamest. His old flame flushed and glanced away. Yeah, fucking up again. He'd warned her about spending her time on things that were important. One more princess doing what princesses couldn't seem to help doing.

"Billy will go to the Lizard Kingdom," Finn declared. "Take Princess Nieve's bodyguards as a force-in-being." The young princess gobbled soundlessly. Her grandmother shushed her. This was the work of ruling the world. She'd been feeling her way and more than a little worried when first Yolanda and then Nieve had gone off the rails. She'd been guilty a time or two of thinking of men as inferiors and fools–nothing more than raw muscle to do the work that women needed. She was becoming more and more comfortable with this man, who was starting to show signs of being the sort of insightful person who could hold this enterprise together.

The guards were just men to the Dowager Princess. They were the necessary coin to buy her family into a better position in this new empire. She could only _hope_ her idiot grand-daughter was sharp enough to _learn_ that. After all, who was going to come after them now? The Dessert People?

One of the lizard-men frowned and said, "our people are in need of Your Majesty's urgent attention. We're facing destruction." "You _have_ my urgent attention," Finn replied. "My son is breaking off his honeymoon to go attend to your troubles. Is there else?" Insistently, Hamest's First-Minister said, "we were counting on your... _personal_ attention to this matter, Your Majesty." It was flattery, and it was a very real barb directed at Finn's habits of taking care of business personally. He was a man of action. Still. Every face there was focused on the King's as he digested that.

Of course, there was an elephant in the corner. Hamest hadn't been doing very much to fix her own problem. A part of him wanted to very publicly dress her down–remind her of her own failings. He knew it would do little to help things. She was what she was–a day-dreamer handed a kingdom she was poorly qualified to rule. Finn's eyes narrowed on the Lizard Kingdom's envoy, and he coolly told the man, "King's don't adventure, Mr. Nazaryan." Without another word, he got up and strode out, leaving not just the envoy but his whole family _staring_ after him. The question figuratively hung there in the air. What had just happened? Finn had turned down the chance to get his hands dirty.

Betty broke the spell. She immediately grabbed for Simone's hand, causing the tall woman to flinch in pain. Drew, who'd been staring at Finn's back just as much as the rest, turned to Simone when she saw Betty flexing her daughter's injured hand. "Let me see that," she burbled. With a sigh, Simone consented to being fussed over. Turning to Billy, she said, "you get going... I'll let Rags know where you've gone."

Cherry herded the pack of assorted problems out the door, closing it behind her. Drew immediately dragged Simone over to the exam table and made her sit down. Running her fingers over the Ice-Queen's bruised and battered fingers, the pretty doctor noted every wince and grimace. "I don't like this," the pretty doctor rumbled. "You shouldn't be letting him hold your hand, when he's..." Simone cut her off with a curt, "so I should let him develop a complex? I should make him afraid to touch me?" Drew flushed to her hair and glanced away. Yeah, he was already doing a lot of that. Her mind went back to Betty's ugly speech from the gathering at the Tree-House. Changes. Finn was getting changed. Again. And nobody seemed to be giving him any space to adjust to it all.

Back in Wildberry Kingdom, Olesia had finally rejoined the Warrior Princess after slagging the last of the catapult crews. They'd tried every nasty variation on her, and she'd found herself close to checking out a few times there. Things had gotten so cold that she'd honestly had no time to think about anything but survival. Now, as she raced along at Ingrid's side, shielding the Warrior Princess from the enemy's machinations, she found a moment to reflect. William hated war. He was sick of it, and she could easily see why. William's father was profoundly disgusted with it and sick of the bloodshed, and Olesia agreed. This had to end. Death to anybody who wanted to continue it.

The enemy's defenses seemed concentrated around a broken, _shell_ of a building. The plump woman imagined it was once a factory or something. It reminded her of the primary holdings of her father's business-partner. The thought of that nasty old man creeped her out and left her shuddering. He'd forever been hinting at her. The disgusting old man had been trying to get in her pants since she was _fourteen_! It sort of figured that the idiot who dared to call himself a prince held forth from this place. "Stay close," announced Ingrid, as they stepped over a few corpses. She sounded as if she was worried. _Well, she might, Olesia,_ thought the plump girl. These men were cornered. They had nowhere to go now.

Inside, Rolf, the would-be Peanut-Prince, stood before the ugly, ugly creature in the glass bowl. "Not going so well," asked the entity? He might have been asking about yard work or an onerous chore that Rolf was avoiding. "I need your help," the terrified prince babbled. "You know my price," chuckled the monster. "I demand sacrifice..." The would-be prince glanced back in the direction of the exit. He could hear shouts and screams. They were close now and getting closer. "You're running out of time," chuckled the creature.

"Ok," said the prince. He beckoned some of his men. The fearful nut-folk came striding haltingly forward, dragging a gagged Ludwig. His lieutenant had done all he could to talk his master out of taking this step, and Rolf had come close to butchering him a time or two. Things had gotten a little easier when they discovered the artesian spring under the capitol. That had let them build defenses against the evil little bitch who ran with Warrior Princess. Unfortunately, all that had gone for nought. It had all come undone, and Rolf had found Ludwig plotting to sell him out. Ludwig had tried to meet with the enemy envoy in secret to scheme up a way to hand over this master, but it had all gone for nought.

Even now, the terrified fool stared around him with wild eyes. "You brought this on yourself, Ludwig," Rolf growled. "You'd have screwed me. You tried to fuck me. This is your penance." He nodded for his men to get busy. Fighting with the plump noble all the way, the soldiers dragged him to a hoist near the center of the room. Lashing his belt to the hook, the men lifted Ludwig aloft, raising him up above the level of the glass bowl. Dragging on a rope attached to his feet, the soldiers brought him over the prison that held their awful new _ally_. And then, as Rolf watched, the soldiers lowered the fat man in.

The evil creature wasted not a moment. He all but leapt to get at Ludwig. The fat peanut howled in terror the whole way down, audible in spite of his gag. Rolf made himself keep watching. He would have to keep bringing this _thing_ sacrifices. He would have to figure out how to keep it fed. Ludwig was just a down-payment. Indeed, as the fat man came finally into reach of the awful creature, Rolf began formulating his arguments for how the army outside was _enough_. He was giving this thing hundreds of lives. So busy plotting was he, that he scarcely noticed Ludwig meeting his end in a horrid, blood-curdling scream that got choked off into awful gurgling that eventually dissolved down to nothing.

"Tasty," the creature growled. "There's hope for you yet." "Attend," said Rolf. "The enemy is almost on us. I'll let you out. I need you to take their center." "Of course," said the Dipped. "I could use more blood sacrifices..." Nodding–the creature was falling right into his plan–Rolf motioned for the guards to upend the mixing bowl. The soldiers had found–and refurbished–the heavy mechanism that dumped the mixing bowl. Now they strained against the gears as they slowly, ever so slowly, lowered the lip of that bowl. Rolf waited in eager anticipation as the bowl got closer and closer to the horizontal. This would all be over soon. He'd be back on the path to conquest, and it would be _Chelsea_ bowing to _him_.

As the bowl reached the point of no-return, the creature came flooding out–much faster than Rolf or any of the soldiers could have followed. It was on the would-be prince before he could even register that it had betrayed him. He died in a terrible wail of terror that was cut off in mid-cry. And then the ugly show really began, as the Dipped moved against the very soldiers that had freed it.

Olesia and Ingrid entered the ruins of the old factory in the hunt for the missing peanut-prince. Prince Rolf had gone missing at the height of the fighting, and all his men believed he'd gone this way. He'd made the old factory his rallying point, though he'd forbidden all the soldiers from ever entering without his present or explicit permission. Olesia felt a sense of unease and foreboding as they walked into the cool darkness. Where was their missing prince? He couldn't have escaped. Ingrid had moved troops around the peanuts to surround their camp. There was nowhere for him to go.

Warrior Princess was filled with the joy of the day. It had been a close-fought contest–the best sort for a warrior–and she'd come out on top. Her mind was on the next moves. She wanted to move her army up to the Grey Forest, establish a base in the wilds beyond the gates, and use that as a stepping stone to march against whatever nasty little tyrants were trying to establish themselves there. If she had her way, the wall would become a footnote in history.

In the darkness, a terrible thing stalked the pair, as they cast their eyes this way and that. The elemental was a problem. The elemental could kill him–boil him to nothing. On the other hand, he'd heard the fool prince talking about an artesian spring nearby. He had options here. He had ways to skin this cat. At worst, he could simply flee into the wilds to restart the war against life and bide his time for better opportunities. Of course, he couldn't help wanting to have one last bite of the apple–one last _taste_ of life.

The evil creature came out of the darkness, pouncing on the tall warrior, shouting, "I have you!" Olesia screamed in horror, as the ugly _thing_ enveloped the King's wife. She was prepared for screams. She knew what a Dipped was, and she'd heard what happened when one of them _got_ you. Instead of screaming, Ingrid actually began to _grapple_ with the thing, startling both the elemental and the creature itself. The thing twisted and turned, even seeming to try and envelope the tall woman's head. Calmly, the warrior pulled and grappled, twisting and turning in that darkened room, as Olesia stared in fear and horror with no idea what she should do.

Part of her wanted to join the fray. She could kill it with her flames. She could boil the thing away, but that risked Ingrid too. The plump girl stood rooted to the spot by indecision, as that insane battle played out. Ingrid finally got the upper hand by the simple expedient of _inhaling_ the evil creature, and then, exhaling, she sent the thing evaporating into the ether in a cloud of oily black smoke to the accompaniment of a horrific screaming.

Huffing and puffing, the tall woman shucked sweat from her face with one hand as if she'd merely had a particularly intense sword-fight instead of a death-struggle with an entity that should have been able to dissolve her on contact. "Y-you're still the Angel of Death," Olesia babbled! It was only when she'd said it that she realized that she'd spoken rather out of turn and maybe drawn negative attention to herself. "Say nothing of this," Ingrid growled, her voice low and dangerous. The plump woman shut her mouth. Severely, the tall woman told her, "you're to forget what you saw." Knowing she was in danger, the plump girl swore that she would.

**So who was expecting _that_ outcome? Rolf learns that a scorpion is going to act like a scorpion, no matter what it says it wants to do. And Nieve... learns that Grandma means business.**


	17. Chapter 17

Chapter 17:

"You lied to me," Billy growled. The princess glanced away, her face changing to a strange, _ugly_ color like a day-old bruise. She could feel his rage, and she knew of nothing to soften his anger. She'd been so close, and now she felt as though she'd lost it all. On his side, Billy found himself recalling his father's words. This woman was handicapped. She was handicapped by her birth as a person of privilege in a world where so many people had only dirt. How often had Bonnie simply _failed_ to see the immediacy of a problem until it was literally kicking her front door in?

"You must never lie to me again," he whispered. The humbled princess got down on her knees and swore that she wouldn't. "Full disclosure," he whispered. "Every gaffe. Every problem. Everything on the table. I will give you the same." Nodding, face flushing a vibrant purple, Hamest swore that she would tell him everything. "Ok," he said. "We're going to get on an airship. This evening. Get your things packed." The Lizard Princess got up and rushed out of there like her hair was on fire.

Elsewhere in the palace, Nieve was throwing a Royal Tantrum. "My guards," she howled! "Y-you just gave him the only soldiers we had!" Odessa rolled her eyes. So much for learning valuable lessons. "You understand that those guards aren't worth much more than spit right now," she muttered? Nieve howled curses at her, but the older woman was unmoved. Her eyes were on the power she saw on the horizon. Finn the Human was holding fast to his power, but he was middle-aged and getting older. Young William was his first-born child and the obvious choice to inherit the throne. A part of her would have preferred the King's daughter, but that was her prejudices speaking. William was the clear favorite.

And William would need an _heir_ some day.

Oh, there were a couple of Royal Brats in the queue ahead of any child Nieve might birth. Ragnhild, Abeiuwa, and Noemi had been _working_ on the problem, with Ragnhild being particularly industrious. Still, things had a way of happening to Royal Children. If they played their cards right, a member of the Muscle Kingdom's Royal Clan might inherit the whole shebang someday. And this idiot was worrying over guards that were little more than ceremonial window-dressing right now. "Go to him," Odessa insisted! "Show him that you care!" Her voice was pitched to sound cheerful and encouraging, but there was an undercurrent of menace there. Odessa hadn't given up _her_ bodyguards–far from it.

Nieve shut her mouth, as her grandmother talked her through how she was going to go down to her husband's office in something slinky and seduce him. They were going to get nasty on his desk, and she would get the Royal Baby her grammy so coveted. The young woman listened, but she was more shocked and terrified of the way things seemed to be getting away from her than lusty or excited.

Meanwhile, Billy himself had gone down to his office to find his lieutenant. The Froyo-person was, as usual, camped out behind his desk, looking over the day's business. He'd been carrying more since Billy got himself dragooned into doing his dad's job for a few weeks while Finn recovered. Organized to a fault, Leo had been doing just fine, taking the slack as if he'd been running multiple armies scattered across Ooo for his entire life.

The pale Froyo-person hardly glanced up from the document in his hands as he sardonically asked, "aren't you supposed to be honeymooning?" "I'm about as good at it as you are," Billy retorted. That made Leo Pedersen laugh. He and Lina had hardly gotten any time to themselves before getting dragged into another mad adventure. "Come down with orders for me to rush off somewhere," asked the older man?

Stopping before Leo's desk, Billy said, "nah, man. Need you here, actually." That made Leo frown. It hardly made sense, unless this was a social call. Billy was supposed to be honeymooning, so that was more or less out of the question. Even if you factored in what the younger man had actually been doing the past few days, it made little sense.

Sitting down, Billy laid out exactly what had happened to end his adventure in patience with Nieve. Leo found himself muttering curses. "You know she didn't get anything done, right," the soldier rumbled? Billy sighed heavily. "We _talked_," Billy replied, and it was clear from his tone that it hadn't been sweet-nothings. "I gotta' go get this straight, Leo," Billy sighed. "It's..." "Our open right flank," Leo replied. "The Tesla Barriers do us no good if somebody can just march around the southeast end and get on a few boats to cross the sea." And while that wasn't as simple as it sounded, it was hardly an insurmountable obstacle. Resting his arms on the table, Leo asked, "what're you going to do? You're only taking a few handfuls of men."

That was the sticking point. Billy didn't really know himself. He had a few options. He could do walls of ice. It was still cold enough that they'd last a while. Unfortunately, that was a very temporary answer. "That's why I need Lina to dig me up a qualified brain, Leo," Billy said. "Somebody who can be spared to go over to Lizard Kingdom to work up the extensions to the wall that they need to secure their capitol. If I can get the capitol secure, they have somewhere to fall back to." And Billy would have somewhere to send help. It was a decent plan for the information they had and the time available.

"In the mean-time," said Billy, "I need you working things with the Jungle Guard. If Nadia gets this Tesla-machine built for Jungle Kingdom, that will give us more troops we can put in the field. They won't be happy about coming north. That's going to make them prickly as fuck..." "...but they can maybe head into Purple Kingdom or act as a back-stop in Laurel Kingdom," Leo rumbled. Billy nodded. Just so. The Peanuts were decimated, but Ingrid was far more interested in getting back north and east to the barrier than going to Laurel Kingdom.

The two men broke off their conversation in favor of a trip down to the barracks to see what else they had to spare. They might find themselves rushing to the bandit kingdoms to deal with an incursion if things went sideways in Lizard Kingdom. They spent much of the afternoon there, with Billy returning to the palace late in the day, leaving him just enough time to pack. That was the task he was involved with when Nieve came into his quarters–the quarters he'd been sharing with another woman.

The young princess was dressed in a slinky black dress with no back, letting her firm, medium-sized boobies swing free. Her long black hair had been teased out just-so and glistened like obsidian threads. Billy, his mind on what he was likely to find in Lizard Kingdom, never slowed down. Nieve stood there a moment staring at him as he looked over his short-sword and daggers. "You're not even going to speak," she muttered. Billy finally looked up. Studying her a moment, he asked, "gramma?" Her face went hot. "You won't have to duck me for a while," said Billy as he hitched on his weapons. Her jaw hung, but the soldier was already moving, his mind on something more important than a failing marriage to a woman that wanted no part of him.

Shouldering his bag, Billy headed out. No more suits. It would be jeans and a shirt, and he was delighted. He wasn't sure how his dad had managed to get himself used to this. Of course, he'd be dipping out on all the annoying princesses and their endless complaints and requests too. Arriving downstairs, the big man found a car waiting on him with the leader of Nieve's bodyguards beside it.

And Hamest.

The Lizard Princess was standing beside the car looking both demur and fetching all at the same time in a severe grey dress. Her expression was strained, making her look older. He could see the distress from ten feet away. Ah, the mess that was a woman. The young prince strode up and slipped his arm around her waist before kissing her cheek. She was trembling, and the gesture calmed her somewhat. Taking her bag, the young man headed around to the back of the car and handed the two bags to the driver. Taking the princess by the arm, he helped her get settled inside before sitting down beside her.

"Not used to this, eh," he asked? The thin woman shook her head. She was barely used to the idea of riding on a train. But she _was_ from the edge of civilization. She'd only seen airships as they flew over her land headed _elsewhere_. Rarely, they'd deigned to land in her homeland to trade. She'd never been aboard one herself. Billy took her hand and held it as if to say, 'everything's going to be ok'.

Meanwhile, in the Grey Forest, Bronwyn sat staring at a ledger book and seeing nothing on the page. Her mind wasn't on the figures contained within. Her mind had been returning to the business of Barry's death again and again. It didn't make sense. None of this made sense. She kept going back to the strange conversation she'd had with the dead man occupying the nymphs' jail. She didn't understand him or any of this.

She couldn't understand how a man could accept that his wife cheated on him like that. She'd grown up thinking that a man and a woman got married. They raised their kids together, grew old with each other, and moved on to Dead World. That was what life was supposed to be. She'd seen how strangely _complicated_ it could get with her adoptive grand-uncle. Finn had been married to two women for most of her life. At the same time, she'd lived in what she thought was a pretty conventional family.

As she'd grown older, she'd begun to _see_ things that she hadn't recognized before. She'd come to realize what it was that nymphs _really_ did when she'd caught her father with one when she was fourteen. Nymphs were ho's. They would fuck anybody–especially if there was money on the table. She'd developed an ugly contempt for Finn's second wife and daughter. She could hardly understand how Simone put up with the pair or why she would accept them in her house. Bronwyn had just assumed Finn had her cowed or something. The idea that maybe Simone really did care for the pair was _alien_. It had been at least until she'd encountered Roger Abel.

The humanoid had been Darcy's willing dog–tolerating all her abusive antics–as she philandered her way through life, dining on fine food while he was out earning their living in the dirty, dusty world of the hunter. He'd been shocked, horrified, and grief-stricken to find out that someone had murdered the little bitch, and Bronwyn was sure he wasn't faking the reaction. He'd _loved_ that little cretin. So why would _he_ murder her? And if he didn't, who had?

Rising, the plush puppy put the ledgers and documents aside. This wasn't making sense, and things that didn't make sense had the capacity to drive her straight up the wall. Patrick and Fionna were doing nothing to help on the matter, having repeatedly stated that it was an 'internal matter' for the wood-nymphs to deal with. Really, Bronwyn thought that Fionna cared more about her precious wall than the murder of one party-bear. If she wanted this solved, Bronwyn was going to have to solve it herself.

It was odd but strangely liberating not to have a chauffeured car waiting on her when she exited the rather _rustic_ hotel she called home just now. She'd grown up with this life, and she would have to admit to having been _spoiled_. She was a spoiled child, used to fine things, and that had somewhat contributed to her loneliness. It was going to take a lot of husband to manage her, and she was well aware of that fact. In her mind's eye, she saw him–a big, manly fellow swollen-up with muscles, old enough to be worldly, and young enough to appreciate a beautiful woman. And rich. She'd told a couple of would-be suitors to shove off because she knew she'd never be happy enough with them to make them happy with _her_. Why make _two_ people miserable? In the right now, living in this primitive shithole was a kind of grand adventure.

The heiress headed across town through late evening traffic. This excursion was as much about clearing her head as about the investigation. As she took the turns, she found herself thinking about Fionna of all people. Fi was married. Fi had kids. She was younger, but she had a family. Bronwyn envied her happiness even if it kinda-sorta looked like she'd settled. _Happy is happy, Bronwyn,_ she thought. Even _Star_ seemed happy with her gangster.

Pulling up outside the rooming house, the plump half-bear got out and stood staring up at the window. Vivian had been inconsolable. Her serial-philandering shitbag of a husband had gotten his just desserts, and _she_ was left crying. It felt, to Bronwyn, that she was missing several lessons here. The only unhappy soul seemed to be _her_. Muttering curses, the plush puppy headed up the walk and knocked on the door. It took a long, long while for the landlady to answer the door.

"Hi," said Bronwyn. "I think I missed something when I was cleaning out my employee's shit." The old nymph frowned at her a moment. "I just... need to look in the room one last time," said Bronwyn in wheedling tones. After a pause where the half-bear considered pulling out her wallet, the old nymph relented. Bronwyn swept in, skirt swishing, heels thumping on the worn floor. She immediately headed for the stairs. This place, like so much in this mad little land, was poorly built and fitted by a hand that seemed to have swayed back and forth between calm lucidity and madness.

Nymphs used to drug their _husbands_. She remembered that from somewhere. They drugged men to make them compliant. At least they had, until Finn's wife came on the scene. Emeraude the enigma. That was what some whispered in this place. She was the most un-nymph-like nymph in history. She'd had seemingly as much contempt for her kind as Bronwyn did. It seemed mad, but the little madwoman was changing this place. For the better. Bronwyn would have had to admit that Emeraude–'E'–wasn't what, or _who_, she'd thought.

Arriving in the still-wrecked scene of the crime, the pretty half-bear stood there in the entry, staring around her, seeing nothing. What was she missing? Something was wrong here? Why would someone murder Darcy Abel? If her husband didn't kill her, why would someone want to murder her? Nobody _should_ want to kill a nobody like Darcy. She wasn't important to anybody except Roger Abel. And Roger was just as much a nobody–a patsy for nymphs, brought here as a glorified slave and so accustomed to his enslavement that he'd stayed on after being freed. They'd just murdered her and thrown her body on the floor like she simply didn't matter.

The thought hit her like a stroke of lightning. It was _Barry_ who'd taken the brunt of the violence. It was Barry who'd been stabbed and stabbed and stabbed. Darcy had been treated like so much collateral damage–killed for the crime of just being in that room. It was completely out of character for a love-crime, unless the person was in love with Barry. More thoughts came unbidden, as she became more and more convinced that Barry had been the true target of the attack. They'd all been focused on Darcy and Roger because, on the surface it made sense. Everybody knew that Darcy was cheating. If you didn't look deeper–if you never questioned Roger himself–you'd think that was it.

_Somebody wanted Barry dead,_ thought Bronwyn, _really, _really_ dead. But who? _Vivi had been on the Island of the Bears the whole time. She was with their family, with an unshakable alibi. She was the most likely person to want the fool dead. Barry was a nobody–only interesting because of who he worked for. It was a thought–an epiphany–that left her chilled. Barry had worked for her family for ten years. He didn't quite know where the bodies were buried, but he knew things that TRR didn't want to be widely known. Had someone compromised him? Did someone push him to talk? Or did he see something he shouldn't have?

Turning around, the pretty woman began asking questions of the landlady. The plump nymph did her best to answer, though she seemed a little reticent. Bronwyn found herself wondering if this woman weren't covering for someone. _Paid off,_ thought the young woman? She'd done the deed a couple of times herself. That was one of the dirty jobs you did when you came in at the bottom and wanted to work your way up to partner. You went and squared away ugly little scandals. She knew what people looked like when they'd been poorly paid off. She always _coached_ her little problems, teaching them just what they were to say when the inevitable questions came. Breaking off the conversation, the plush puppy headed for the door. Something was _very_ wrong here, and she had a terrifying suspicion that Barry had paid with his life for something that her father was doing.

As the plush puppy drove away in her wreck of a rental-car, the landlady stood at her window, peering out through a crack in the curtains. She had her phone in her hand, in ernest conversation with the very interested parties that had paid her to forget the ugliness that had happened in her home. She'd had no idea that the murder would cause her so much grief. Nothing like this had ever happened in the past when she'd had to take part in something nasty. She'd not been able to rent the room since the murder happened, and now it was costing her money.

On the other end of that line, Gemma listened carefully and spoke in soothing tones to the fool woman. The last thing she needed was to spook the idiot and have her run to the Lawkeepers. It appeared that it was time to make another disappearance happen. She'd had to be careful about that. Emeraude was back, bringing Holly and Voletta with her. She'd be deep down in everybody's panties, checking up on things that her predecessors rarely cared about. Voletta, especially, would be a terror, hunting for any hint of a crime. "It'll be taken care of," Gemma burbled, in soothing tones. "You'll be paid. Don't worry about it. Right. I'll send somebody around." She hung up on the fool.

A half hour later, a pair of unsavory looking humanoids strolled up to the back door of the rooming house. Knocking on the door, the two men waited for the old woman to come down to meet them. Cracking the door open–you couldn't be too careful in the Grey Forest–the old nymph stared out at them. "Gemma sent us," said the ugly man on the left. He flashed a handful of gold coins. The greedy witch's eyes went wide, and she gleefully opened the door.

The second man had a different kind of payment hidden under his cloak. As the nymph reached for the coin, he rammed his dagger up under her gizzard and straight into her heart. At the same time, he grabbed her mouth, stifling her scream. The two men shoved the little bitch off the knife and back into the house. They'd have to work fast before anybody came looking. The name of the game was to chop her up and make the _problem_ disappear.

As the two thugs moved into the house to tie off dangerous loose-ends, the Ice-Prince was closing in on his destination. The airship was one of the smaller machines that the Grid-Face people kept. The ride across the skies had been quite a bit different than Billy had been expecting. He'd expected the smaller ship to be much more nimble than the big, lumbering giant that Princess Nadia typically flew in. And while he appreciated the luxurious _spaciousness_ of the Grid-Face Princess's travel arrangements, he sort of liked the idea of being nimble and able to get to places that others couldn't. At the same time he was a little surprised to find that this almost-dainty machine handled the skies not quite so well as the larger aircraft. In particular, it seemed almost to _bounce_ when they hit a pocket of rough air.

Maybe it was skill. Nadia and her uncle were two of the most skilled pilots amongst their people. Billy found himself wondering if the two women flying this machine had the chops that Nadia had. They'd gotten the machine up in the air right enough, and they'd kept it in the air in the face of a pretty nasty storm that had blown up in their path. At the same time, well over half the troops in the cargo-box were sick, and Billy was a little green around the gills himself. Hamest had retired to the water-closet. And stayed there. Her first trip on an airship was _not_ going well.

Hours into the trip, the crew came onto the intercom to announce that they were on final approach to the Lizard Kingdom. Billy hustled forward to get a good look at what he was dealing with. He hadn't let on, but he was worried. The three envoys had been traveling for _days_ since the enemy army had been seen prowling the wilderness. Billy feared they'd arrive to find that the city was fallen and its people put to the sword. He had no idea what to do if that were true. It was a thought too awful to contemplate. _Would have gotten at least a distress-call over radio,_ he thought. They should have seen _something_. No news was, in some ways, good news. Still, as the ship descended, he held his breath and crossed his fingers.

The small craft bounced and buffeted as it passed through layers of cloud, and a corner of Billy's mind wondered how the pair managed to steer without being able to see the ground. Still, his focus was outside, on the city, as they finally passed through the last layers of cloud. He could see layers of dirty, late-season snow scattered on the ground. The fields around the city were still churned-up and muddy from the battle the previous year. The city itself looked much the same as before–with walls that stopped short of the sea, granaries and slaughter-houses out on the beaches and wharves, where they stood waiting to receive shipments from villages up the coast. The city was, in short, just as vulnerable as it had always been. Life was about to get _very_ interesting.

**Shorter upload this week. Setting up the next big crisis. Of course. And a little more busy with work. :p**


	18. Chapter 18

Chapter 18:

It was clear to Billy that his new fling had the same workout-addiction as the old. Rags had dragged him on a long run around the Candy Palace a couple of mornings. After birthing Adaeze, Abeiuwa had quickly gotten in on the act. Noemi had come late to the party, ironically spurred on by jealousy of Olesia, but she'd become an enthusiastic convert. Hamest got out of bed and followed Billy into the streets of her city just like she did this every day. Indeed nobody seemed at all surprised to see her, although a couple of dudes ogled those legs and the perky, free-swingin' knockers under her tee-shirt. "Gonna' have to get you a sports-bra," Billy opined, as they cleaned up for the day. The lizard-girl blushed.

Still there was shit that had to get done. This wasn't a pleasure trip. With a hand to her shoulder, the young prince steered his beautiful older woman to the breakfast table. Once there, he began quizzing her on what needed to get done. "We have no stone," she admitted. "It's been too cold to get any. We tried to get by with wood, but wood burns." Hiring somebody to plan walls did nothing for her if she had no stone to use. "Ok," he said. "I'll go look at the problem. Where's the quarry?" Hamest gave him a look of dismay. "Where," he pressed? "A hundred miles to the northeast," she said. "You'd never make it with an army out there..." "Yeah," he said, "I will..."

He meant to fly. She knew what that did to him! More to the point, she'd heard the stories of the Ice-Queen's creeping madness and how the source of her powers had precipitated the problem. "I do not agree," Hamest rumbled. His expression suggested he intended to do it anyway. The Lizard-Princess shot to her feet, shouting, "you can't risk that! I forbid it!" When Billy appeared unmoved, she threw herself on him, crying her eyes out. The big man whispered into her long, blonde hair, "this is our shared life, Hamest. This is what we do to our partner when we fail each other." The young man rose, gently pushing her aside. He left her there, crying her eyes out.

The young wizard headed out, breakfast forgotten. He'd hated to do that to her, but he'd learned fast just how little leeway the world let you have. Playing games could wreck his family. His parents had _never_ played these games. Finn the Human could be counted on to be at the dinner table at five sharp, or Simone was getting a phone call explaining why he wasn't. Simone always had the house and kids squared away, or she was on the phone explaining the crisis she was looking at. Emeraude played switch-hitter, picking up the slack when something might have got missed. They kept the family running by carrying their piece of the load and speaking up when they couldn't. Hamest would learn to do the same.

In the now, the young prince headed for the stables. There was a village sixty miles to the north. He thought that gave him a place to stash a riding lizard so he didn't have to risk the Ice-Tiara's embrace the whole way to the quarry and back. The attendants in the stables were talking when he arrived. The topic, unsurprisingly, was _him_. His father had warned him about the risks of Royal Entanglements when he started out with Rags. People didn't care much about who you were bangin'–until money was involved.

The young wizard-prince moved in and began saddling a riding lizard–startling the attendants. It was a lesson for them. He couldn't stop the gossip, but he could force it underground. He could make the gossipers a little more careful about what they said and where they said it. That would go a long way towards making this crazy business work. He was their princess's lover. People would have to accept that, and part of that was coming to grips with the gossip.

Finishing his work, the big man led his mount out of the stables, bound for the gate. The land was cold as he rode across Hamest's kingdom, and Billy found that oddly comforting. Spring was coming. And after that would be the blazing heat of summer. In the now, he was warm enough, and the air felt good after a night in Hamest's quarters. It was incongruous–a woman who detested the cold–wanting a life with _him_. It made him think that having Olesia go off to work for Ingrid was a good thing. He had a lot of reasons to discourage her infatuation. He was in deep with Hamest. His wives had helped make a hash of things by assuming Hamest was just another of their friends–chasing young dudes for fun. He didn't have to make things worse with Olesia.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, Hurletta the Slime Princess entered the King's office to find Finn getting a checkup from Drew. It appeared the curvy doctor was no longer in such a snit. "I thought you'd be ready," murmured the plush princess. Not that she minded the view. Drusilla Princess-Mertens shushed her. She was listening to Finn's heart and lungs. Finn's resigned expression said it all. She'd barged in and just started poking and prodding him. It made little sense when she threatened to make him late for the counseling _she_ told him to take.

While she was about that, Bonnie, Cherry, and Lollipop came barging in, with the pack of them looking frantic. "Ok," said the King, "what's gone wrong now?" Lollipop flushed to her hair. It was coming down to that, wasn't it? She'd committed herself to the _change_ as Cherry called it–getting a new, _young_ body, but it was a process that took _days_. It hardly seemed like she was going to get the time. There was still too much swirling chaos to tame, and it was all hands on deck right now.

"Someone raided my Science Academy last night," Bonnie howled! Her voice was edging towards panic, and she was all but waving her arms. Finn was dead calm in the face of that shocking crime. His eyes flicked to Cherry. "Outsiders," she confirmed. "Way outside." That brought a quirk of Finn's eyebrows. "The usual suspects are accounted for," said Cherry. "Weapons are all accounted for. There shouldn't be two-hundred free-lancers roaming around." Finn was a little shocked himself at the idea that there were two-hundred armed men in their midst. "Our friends from the east," the King murmured. Cherry nodded. Just so. The room held its collective breath just then. They were all waiting on the explosion.

It was an explosion that never came.

"Lollipop, can you send somebody out to the Treehouse to let Thor know what's going on," said Finn. Cherry blew up at him, shouting, "Star's having complications, Finn! He can't..." "Doctor," said Finn, "please send an ambulance to have Princess Star brought to the Candy Clinic. Thanks." Cherry's mouth shut with a click, and her face went red hot. Bonnie opened her mouth to speak and shut it again when she realized she was about to make an ass of herself by saying something stupid and self-contradictory. "I expect that the Captain of the Guard will conduct a thorough investigation into events at the Science Academy," said Finn. Nobody moved. "Is there something else," he asked? The trio turned around and went back out just as they'd come in.

"I'll be down in a minute, 'Letta," said Finn. Taking that for a dismissal, the plump woman slipped back out the door. "If you're trying to impress me...," Drew murmured. "I'm trying to be a King," Finn retorted. Drew went hard at him, saying, "I was _angry_, Finn. I know this is how you are. I don't expect anything more. Throwing Star out of her house to try to show me you're trying to change..." Climbing to his feet–and pushing her aside–Finn retorted, "who's being sentimental now, doctor?" Drew's mouth hung.

"Star shouldn't be at home if she's having troubles," said the King. "Thor's not a doctor. Hanging around the house waiting on an emergency is something a dummy does. When I was concerned for my wife's safety, I brought her to a place where she could get immediate care. Or did you forget that?" As Drew stood there staring in shock, the big man swiftly donned his tie and jacket before heading out the door. As he stood in the doorway, he paused and said, "perhaps my wife should learn to _expect_ better out of her husband." And then he was gone.

Down in the basement, Sarah Mertens sat dividing her concentration between the task on the table and the petty annoyance out in the main laboratory. She'd come perilously close to murdering Blargetha twice in the last few days. The little bitch liked to prick at her, and Sarah's patience was strained to breaking right now. She was deeply invested in doing the very things Bonnie so often did–ducking friends and family to avoid dealing with what was really bothering her. She was a mess, and she halfway felt like she needed to be shut down.

As her mind worried at the growing pile of intertwined problems, a knock at the door announced the end of her dispensation to block out the world. Frowning–she was prepared to skin the slime-princess if she had one more demand to make–Sarah announced, "come in." The door opened to admit Breakfast, who wore an expression akin to panic. "Th-they're turning him into a machine," she muttered. "What do you mean," Sarah demanded? "I... those things are making him change," Breakfast babbled. She had a vial in her hand, and Sarah realized it was full of blood. "Let me see that," she demanded.

Breakfast handed the vial over, explaining, "I... I had to steal that. Drew's... she doesn't know what she's doing, and Nadia can't be bothered. I think she likes him this way." Now Sarah began to understand what this woman was babbling about. She meant the nano-machines in Finn's bloodstream. They'd _talked_ about it. They'd batted ideas–mostly worries–back and forth about what was going on with Finn. Nobody had been doing much to dig into the problem. Truth be told, Sarah had discounted the whole thing. She'd hardly thought Finn was in any real danger. At the same time, Breakfast looked horrified. "Ok," said she, "what's he done now?"

The Breakfast Cutie babbled and stumbled her way through what she'd heard Finn say and do. It sounded like much ado about nothing. At the same time, there were hints there that Finn's behavior was veering in a negative direction. "Ok," said Sarah. "I'll look into it. I've some things I have to get done today, but I'll have this analysis done as soon as I can." Sarah leaned over the desk and hugged her. "It's going to be ok," Sarah burbled.

Meanwhile, Finn headed out to the car to find Hurletta waiting on him. Climbing into the car, the big man settled himself beside her. "I would have understood if you couldn't go," she offered. "This is as important as the other things," Finn replied. Taking her hand, he said, "we're partners in this. We're healing. Together." The plush princess turned to face the window to hide the tears that wanted to fall. She was confused and utterly conflicted. There was a piece of her that liked this–_loved_ this–but this wasn't the Finn she had grown up with. This was a rank stranger, and she wanted the man she'd grown up with back. It was selfish and mad because this was what he needed to be. It was what she _needed_ him to be, because she wasn't sure she could carry these feelings alone.

He'd been horrifyingly correct about one thing. Murdering Blargetha would have done nothing to erase the pain. His support had been helping her get through this. The certain knowledge that he was just as sick and devoted to helping her all the same kept her from going mad. But she wanted Finn back. She wanted the slap fool who could never seem to help behaving like an ass even in the most serious situation. A part of her felt responsible. He was _carrying_ her, and he knew it. He never said a word, but he was carrying her, when he was just as sick. The plump woman took her hand back, folding her fingers in her lap. Finn knew she was disturbed. He could feel it. There wasn't much he could do about it, so he let her be, and the two rolled out to go see the head-doctor.

Back in the Lizard Kingdom, Billy the Human was riding hard and moving fast, rolling cross-country to avoid the risk of bandits on the roads. Hamest's land was beautiful in the winter. He could see why her people loved this place. The clannish lizard-folk seemed to prefer to huddle together in their massive farm-villages, leaving the land around him a magnificent desolation. He could see smoke off in the distance, suggesting one or more of the outlying villages. His destination was in the far northeast corner of the Lizard Kingdom. His plan was to stash his mount there, get a room for the night, just like he'd done in Sakura's domain.

The riding-lizard surged beneath him, taking the rolling terrain with easy grace. The gait wasn't quite the same as the horses he'd grown up around. He'd had to get used to that. Of course, honestly, it had been quite a while since he'd ridden very much. As Bonnie's kingdom grew and became ever more prosperous, the well-to-do and even people like his father began to get their hands on cars and trucks. He remembered Betty talking about the height of human civilization and the similar changes from back then, and he'd been amazed and delighted to be living through it all.

At least until he forgot what the 'old way' looked like.

As mid-morning came sneaking up on him, the young hero crested a rise and paused to give his mount a rest and the land around him a good looking over. These mountains were one place Rags might enjoy visiting. They reminded him of the way things _were_, and he found some of him missed riding horses for days to get out to another town. Of course, there were larger issues he had to deal with and an eight-hundred pound gorilla in the corner, staring him down.

Taking a sip from the canteen at his left hip, the big man pondered how he was going to explain this. He could understand why his dad got irritated with the moms sometimes. They clearly didn't think all that far ahead to the consequences of whatever it was they were squealing about at the moment. Finn the Human often had to clean up the mess. He'd become adept at seeing just where they were going to be down the road when the crash came. _So you have to start planning how you're going to deal with your eventual half-lizard kids,_ the big man thought. He was in far too deep now to back out. More to the point, Hamest wasn't interested in him putting on a rubber. She hated the things and claimed they made her itchy. He was pretty convinced she didn't take the pill. It was a question of _when_ and not _if_. Hamest would likely get her Royal Baby long before Nieve's grandma.

Putting his canteen away, the big man booted the riding lizard back into motion. He was pretty sure he could reach one of the bigger villages near the stone quarry before noon. That would let him get out to the quarry, look around at what he was dealing with, and come up with a plan. With luck, he could get himself back to the village. He wasn't going to hide what he was from his would-be wife. This was their common life now, and that was another big lesson from his dad. At the same time, he didn't need to worry her if he could get himself to shelter.

As the Ice-Queen's son rode off to the north and west, hostile eyes watched him from a small grove of trees. He was here. The terrifying force that had slaughtered their friends was here, just as the Bandit Princess had predicted. He'd killed hundreds of people alongside the terrifying fiend that had accompanied him. The four men hiding among the trees felt their blood run cold. This was their job. Their whole reason for still being here in this place was to get this man to come back here. _We succeeded,_ thought their leader, though it brought him no joy. Now they had to keep the ice-wizard _here_ without getting butchered.

Reaching into the backpack that he carried, the lead bandit drew out the heavy handset that the Bandit-Princess had given them. Carefully, he adjusted the heavy antenna. This wondrous gadget made communication with their distant master much easier, but it had pretty severe limits. Among them was the need to get a clear line of sight with the antenna. It was funny, but the lizards were unwittingly providing them the means to lay siege to their kingdom by providing open access to the radio transmitter in their capitol.

The voice on the other end of the tenuous link was immediately suspicious and hostile. "What is it," she demanded? "The wizard is here," rumbled the patsy. "It's just as your spies said. He's come here. We saw him riding through on a lizard, headed north and east." "The quarries," muttered the Bandit Princess. He was doing exactly what she would have done in his shoes. His idiot lover had been diddling around while her kingdom lay open to ruin. Now he was making a bee-line for the one place he could get the stone they needed to fix the problem. "Keep him there," muttered the Bandit Princess. "You know the cost of failure."

The evil ogress hung up on her patsies. Sitting back in her chair, the tall woman put a licorice stick to her lips and inhaled deeply, drinking in the calming smoke. She'd been critical of Chelsea's stoner-habits, but she was having to admit that this stuff made her less prone to violence. Exhaling a massive, blue smoke-ring, the evil harridan growled, "where is the Warrior Princess?" "She's holding position in the ruins of Wildberry Kingdom," responded her lieutenant. "She's mopping up the remnants of the peanuts' army." Chelsea's patsies had played their part, occupying their adversary's principal army. That business had worked better than she could have dreamed. Unfortunately, her scheme's were not yet at fruition. She needed more time to play. "I need her at the barrier," growled Peihong. "Launch the next phase."

She'd learned her lesson. She wanted all her enemy's resources occupied. She wanted them all _busy_. If they were busy, they couldn't be interfering in her master plan. She hadn't quite figured out where she would get Finn himself occupied, but she was working it. Once she had them all busy, she could move into the next phase of the master strategy. They were getting closer. The rocket-factory was almost up and running. Now she needed weapons–weapons to hold all of Ooo hostage. And then there would be a reckoning with the so-called King of Ooo.

As the Bandit Princess issued marching orders to her legions, the target of her wrath was meeting with a dear, old friend. Finn hadn't seen Breezy in months. She hadn't even come down for Billy's wedding. A part of him was curious both about why she'd stayed away and why she'd just shown up again just now. Honestly, he was worried about her. Her mental state had been off the charts bad the last time he'd seen her.

It said something about how bad her mental state was that she'd come wearing the ugliest, most frumpy dress he'd ever seen her wear. Not her typical, skin-tight flying suit. Not one of the soft mantles she usually wore around her house. This dress covered every inch of her skin except her face and the roots of her wings. It was as far as you could get from the sexy micro-mini she'd worn to seduce him as you could get. His heart went out to her as he realized they were losing their friendship.

Indeed, the Queen Bee offered the King of Ooo a curtsy as a greeting instead of the customary, 'hey, Finn'. Finn took her hand and kissed it, causing her to flush. Turning to the pack of busy-bodies, the King informed them, "you may wait here. My words are for the Queen's ear, not the Consort's." Breezy's face went red hot, but Finn took her by the arm and steered her for the far side of the garden.

"I will not lose my dearest friend," Finn announced. Breezy swallowed what she might have said. "What brings my old friend," Finn murmured? "Invitation," Breezy murmured. Finn's eyebrows climbed. With a sigh, the Queen Bee murmured, "Council used to ride my ass for making moon-eyes at the blue-eyed scoundrel and wasting time and money on him and his pal..." The pretty queen turned and said, "now they're pissed off that I missed out on marrying one of my daughters to his son..." Finn rolled his eyes. He was sooo done with that. Having heard rumors of what Nieve was doing, he would gleefully have stuffed her ass in a box and shipped her back home. Postage due.

Shyly, the pretty queen murmured, "I think a couple of them wish they could go back in time and marry me off to you instead of Barton..." The thought made her laugh. Finn couldn't help a chuckle himself. That ship had sailed. "My firstborn's getting married in a few months," the Queen Bee announced. "I'd love for you and Simone to come." "Then we'll be there," Finn replied. Still, it was clear that something more was bothering her. "Talk to me, B," Finn murmured.

The bee-person took a deep breath. Her face was red, and he feared what she was going to say. The nasty little gossips who were, just now, hanging out on the far side of the garden had put him on edge. He'd heard rumblings that they kept Bart apprised of everything Breezy did. He hated snitches. "Breezy," he whispered. "I've loved you as my best friend for over half my life. You know you can speak freely..." He loved her as more than a friend now.

"They... I'm to ask if you would marry one of my daughters...," she blurted. The blood drained from the big man's face. "They would have asked for William," Breezy muttered, "but they fear Nieve's influence..." "B," Finn started to say. She knew he meant to turn her down. The Council would have a fit. And _she'd_ catch the flak. Cutting him off, she said, "Naome's very sweet. Penelle's young, but she's really smart..." "Their momma should let them live their lives," Finn retorted.

"You're being stubborn," Breezy muttered. "This is your world now." She meant the ugly, _political_ liaisons. "I live with the world I have, Your Highness," Finn retorted, "but I refuse to let it make me a monster. I won't do to your daughter what was done to you..." Breezy flushed to her crown, her face darting away. Finn had made his dislike of Barton and the way he treated Breezy quite clear. A part of the Queen feared what Finn would do if Bart ever crossed the line from jerk to violent asshole. Bart might go from Royal Consort to Royal Corpse in short order.

"You haven't even met them," she murmured. "How do you know they wouldn't want to be your wife?" The King had no response to that. Cracking a smile, Breezy whispered, "I happen to know the King has a really nice flashlight. I hear he knows how to use it, too..." Finn sputtered incoherently, his face going as red as a beet at the reminder that he'd gotten a massive fucking hard-on while she was carrying him. Seizing the moment, Breezy said, "do me a favor, Finn. Meet my daughters. Go through the motions so I can get the Council off my back." "Ok," sighed Finn. The pair started back, with Breezy bending his ear about a joint declaration.

Finn summoned his cabinet and held court in private, letting Breezy lay out her councilors' ugly suggestion. Finn let her talk, though it was clear he wasn't interested in another arranged marriage. It made Breakfast simply stare at him. A man. Turning down sex. Turning it down with younger women. When he had a perfectly good excuse to do it. As the day drew to a close, Finn sent the functionaries on their way, inviting Breezy to dinner with the family. Let the gossipers _try_ to make something out of that.

Billy, meanwhile, stood in the empty rock-quarry, staring around at a great big nothing. There were no workers, which stood to reason. He was cold. The lizards likely found it intolerable. They wouldn't be getting stone cut anytime soon. Not with the workers they had, which was none. Staring down at the valley, the wizard tried to gauge how far off the city was. _Forty miles,_ he thought. Nothing for a truck, but he didn't have a truck, much less a fleet of them. _Steady run, Bill,_ he thought. It was a steady run down to the town where he'd left his riding lizard. It was another downhill run a few miles after that. Ideas raced through his keen mind. He had a couple of ways to work this.

But he would need Olesia.

The young wizard frowned as he thought about the risks. There was a mutual attraction there. He risked damaging his family. How many times had his dad risked that? There had been a time where Finn endlessly dodged princesses and their fast hands. But he needed Olesia to make this work. Hell, as much as he'd need to use the Ice Tiara's powers, he might need her to save his sanity. He could feel the entity tugging at his thoughts even now just from using it to fly here, and he still needed to fly back to town. Wearing his unease like a coat, the young hero headed for his digs to get some rest and make a few essential phone calls.

Hundreds of miles to the west, an irritated Bronwyn returned to her rough quarters to make dinner. The nymphs were stonewalling her. She was sure of it. Patrick and Fionna were no help at all, having decamped to the grasslands outside the forest. They made the quintessential odd-couple–a dude married to his niece. They weren't blood-related, but it was weird to Bronwyn nonetheless. More on point, that left her dealing with Emeraude herself, and she'd damaged that relationship beyond repair.

As she got out the spices and started working up dinner, the plush-puppy reflected on that. Prejudice. She'd allowed her rage at her dad's side-chick to cloud her mind with the ugly fog of prejudice. Now she could have used a relationship with Emeraude to get to the bottom of what happened to Barry. She felt... _guilty_. She felt as though Barry got killed working something her dad wanted.

She'd been arguing with herself over that. Did she _really_ want to know? Was she prepared for her dad to be doin' dirt? She'd cleaned up the mess when Mr. Taylor's grand-daughter got caught paying to have dudes beat her boyfriend's ass. The little bitch got shipped to Truth Kingdom until it all blew over. This was a lot worse than a broken arm. A man had lost his life. _Two_ people had lost their lives, and a third was about to pay the price of it all.

Knocking at the door snapped her out of her fog. Wiping her hands, the hybrid headed across her room to the door. "Who is it," she called? "Housekeeping," announced a soft voice. Bronwyn rolled her eyes. Nymphs. She'd probably been too busy fucking some random stiff to clean the room. "Be quick," the half-bear growled, as she jerked the door open. The tall stranger on the far side blew a pale blue dust into her face. The startled woman was falling before she could half-register what had just happened.

Two burly men moved in, quickly shutting the door. They stretched the mark full length on the carpet before rolling her up in it. Hefting the carpet, the larger man put their target over his shoulder before nodding for his partner to grab the door. With the nymph playing lookout, the pair swiftly made the back stairs. There was a delivery wagon waiting on them behind the ramshackle inn loaded down with carpets. The driver was sleeping off a drunk in the back of the cab. With the few drops of knock-out juice they'd slipped into his bark beer, he wouldn't remember a thing, and this little bitch would disappear for a while. Neither man knew what she was wanted for, but she was definitely the mark. You couldn't miss knockers like that.

South and west of the Grey Forest, a slime person stood watching the plush fire-girl, as she sat 'writing' on a tablet made of thin sheets of glass. It was a fascinating bit of business that had many in the army amazed and amused. Some were curious about what she wrote. Most took it as an opportunity to gaze in fascination and fantasy at the second most beautiful woman in their world. The first was their deadly leader, and nobody was stupid enough to spend much time staring at _her_.

"Is there something I can help you with," Olesia asked? She had gotten herself used to the staring. Honestly, sometimes it was a little flattering. Others... she felt like some kind of strange monster. However, tonight she wasn't really in the mood. "The general wants you," the soldier replied. Putting her journal away, the plump woman gathered herself to her feet, dusting ash from the fire off her butt, taking note of the way the soldier stared. It was funny. It would have been if her heart wasn't burning for somebody else. As she got on her way, the plush pretty opined, "maybe you should tell me that Princess Ingrid wants something a little sooner. Might keep her from chopping your head off."

She left him sputtering in fear and worry. Her mind was already on the looming _conversation_. Ingrid liked to spar verbally with her. The younger woman hardly understood it, but Ingrid would prick at her until she had to respond with something. Invariably the older woman got the better of those little verbal exchanges. Olesia had been doing her best to either learn to fight back or learn to shut up.

Arriving at the general's tent, the plump girl knocked politely on the slate outside. "Who's there," demanded Ingrid? "It's me," replied the young princess, "Olesia." "Come in," Ingrid commanded in her usual imperious tone. Even for a princess, she was obnoxious with that. Biting back an angry retort, the plump girl let herself in to find the tall woman at a wooden tub. Naked. She was standing with her back to the door, and she was washing her long, golden hair.

Olesia envied that body, scars and all. The tall woman was fantastically fit and surprisingly curvy for all of that. She made Olesia feel inadequate. "What kept you," Ingrid asked? She was soaping up that lustrous hair. It was hard to believe that she was the Angel of Death. Olesia knew better than to even mention it, though. "The guard decided that staring was more important than communicating," she replied. "You're prettier than their hands," Ingrid declared.

Olesia flushed to her hair. She didn't like where that thought led. She wasn't a prude. She understood the hunger. She just didn't want to think about being some dude's fantasy while he was rubbing one out. "What did you need," she asked? "You're going to Lizard Kingdom," Ingrid declared. "Tomorrow." That news startled the plump girl. "Are you sending me away," Olesia muttered? Her tone suggested that she was suspicious.

"I'm reassigning you," Ingrid replied. She never stopped washing her long, golden hair. "I'm sending you to where you can help us," she explained. Glancing up at the image in her mirror, the tall woman told her, "we're down to small numbers. The peanuts have been routed. And we even found their nasty little surprise. We're in good shape here. Billy's..." "An ice-wizard," Olesia retorted. Rolling her eyes, Ingrid turned and said, "you're behaving like a petulant brat. You won't get your prince _that_ way." The plump girl flushed to her hair.

Folding her arms over her plump bosom, the tall woman advised her, "you've been playing the game well–behaving as a responsible member of this family. Continue to do just that. Do as you're told. Put in good work." Turning back to the wash basin, the tall woman said, "you may be dismissed, Olesia. I'll need you to do one last patrol before you go. The airship will be here tomorrow afternoon." Stunned, the plump girl turned to go, her face a mask of shock and confusion. She didn't know what to make of this. Only one thing was certain. She was going to see Billy, and the thought terrified her.

Under the same moon, the object of her thoughts sat curled up on the rough bed he'd been given, cradling his phone, watching the messages as they came trickling in. Pics of his babies. Pithy advice from Rags. Raunchy thoughts of what he should do with Nieve from Abeiuwa. In the middle of all that, his phone rang. Glancing at the number, he realized it was Hamest. Flicking it open, the big man announced, "hey, baby." "Are you ok," she sniffled? "Yeah," he said. "I got out here to this village near the quarry. Didn't have to fly too far. I got out there and back, no sweat. I'm'a hole up here until morning and ride back." His new addiction offered him profuse apologies. "S'ok, baby," he said. "Was a pretty easy ride. I got some ideas on how to get some stone down to the city. Just you wait for me..."

As the Ice-Prince worked to console his unhappy princess, knocking on the door announced that a new problem had come to his door. At first he tried to ignore it, but the banging only grew louder and more insistent. That suggested trouble. Trouble out here could be very hazardous to his health. "Hang on, babe," said Billy. Rising, he went to the door and opened it to find a pair of frantic lizard-guards outside in the chill of the hallway. "Soldiers," the older of the pair announced. "There's an army out there in the darkness." Billy found his blood running cold. An army. And he was all alone out here.

**TWO cliffhangers for the price of one.**


	19. Chapter 19

Chapter 19:

Billy rubbed his itchy, tired eyes and peered out at the early morning darkness. The sun would be up soon. He had a choice to make–stay here or try to get back to the capitol. He'd been up all night, staring out at hordes of fires on the surrounding hillsides in a state of utter terror. The lizard-folk had all but huddled near him. Some had abandoned their homes to crowd into the central hall–the better to be protected by the heroic wizard. It was a poignant reminder of the stakes in this mad life he lived. It was just like he'd told his sister. This was the _world_–thousands of lives, maybe millions–resting on his shoulders.

His phone rang, and a quick glance at it told him that Hamest was still having trouble with this new life she'd signed herself into. Rags had learned the lesson on that terrifying night the Thief King attacked her train. He was the man who held up the world and protected all its contents. That was his place in the world. It was just the way the world worked. Crying and pleading with him not to do that work was worse than pointless. It was actually a dangerous distraction.

"Yeah, babe," he greeted her? She'd been pleading with him to let her bring the army up the mountain–as if that made a lick of sense. She'd abandon the city and its people to save one man. It was the madness of infatuation, and he'd slapped her hard in the face with that. He'd told her pointedly that he would abandon her if she chose to do that. He wouldn't be the reason that the people of the Lizard Kingdom got slaughtered. "Is everything... alright," she burbled? "Yeah," he said. "Holding on. Waiting until dawn to see what I'm up against. How're things there?" "They're... they... The council agreed with you," she rumbled. "The army's patrolling the streets. They're... We've got all the townsfolk gathered near my palace where they're safe. My chief scientist got one of Lina's machines working again." "Good, babe," said Billy. "I'm'a... I'm'a get home, soon as I can. Loves you. Bye." The big man turned back to the job of keeping watch on the world outside. When it was light, he'd get a chance to see what was really going on.

North and West of the Lizard Kingdom, the Glass Witch lay in repose, listening to the soft snores of her husband. Patrick's mood had improved immeasurably in the last few days since she'd gotten here. Having their kids to see and touch and play with had brightened his world and brought back the man she'd fallen in love with. Gone was the unhappy, hang-dog expression of a man who felt like a failure, and Fionna herself had started to relax. They were hangin' on–holding their own. She'd made a few excursions to the south end of the Grey Forest to study Nadia's reflective node, looking it over and teasing at it to see what made it tick. She'd been on the phone a couple times with Lina, walking through how to build a copy on the northern side, and she'd been experimenting with doing just that.

While she worked, Patrick took care of their babies, feeding and bathing them and looking after them. He thought he looked like a fool with a baby carrier strapped to his chest, while he dragged a stroller up and down over hill and dale, leading soldiers to patrol the open space in the barrier. Fionna thought he looked cute. More to the point, he looked like a man in love with life when he was looking after their daughters.

Unfortunately, dispensation to laze in bed had disappeared for them a long time ago. Her dad had been all too right about chances to snuggle being like a dream. Rising, the Bad Bunny carefully slipped out of bed to avoid disturbing Patrick. Leaving him to sleep a little longer, she slipped around the room, using the power of the Quicksilver Curse to avoid making noise as she made up lunches and prepared bottles and food for the kids. As the first rays of the sun came streaming over the horizon, the blonde bombshell had everything ready to go. Patrick woke up to find that all he needed to do was get washed and dressed.

As the pair sat themselves at the table to eat breakfast, the wizard said, "you didn't have to do that..." "Nope," Fi agreed. "Did it 'cause I love you." Ducking his head, Patrick blushed and grinned. "Ok," he said. "I'm'a do something for you tomorrow morning. Ok?" "Sure," Fionna agreed. Moving on to more serious matters, he asked, "what's the plan for today?" "I'm getting closer," Fionna said. "I got some good advice from Lina yesterday afternoon. Maybe a couple more days. You keep on keepin' on. I should have something by the end of the week, latest." "Ok," Patrick agreed. "Then we take a vacation." Fionna was quick to agree, but she had the sinking feeling that his hoped-for vacation was further out than he thought. There was still a whole lot of trouble floating around out there. She would be happy just to get back to their house for a few weeks.

As they polished off their meals, knocking at the door announced that their time together was over. The look in Patrick's eyes... did things to Fionna Mertens-Petrikov. It was a lot like the way her dad looked at her mom. "See you tonight," she said, as she rose and gathered up her bag. She didn't look back because it hurt too much. Soldiers were waiting outside, and Fionna headed off with them to the southern barrier. Patrick gathered up Nadine, stuffing her in the carrier before sliding it on his front. Mona got put in the stroller Banana-Man had built them, with its knobby tires and battery-powered wheels. It was going to be a long day, walking up and down across the twenty miles of open space.

Back in the Lizard Kingdom, Billy stood outside in the cool morning air, grateful to be alive. He accepted that this was how his life was going to be, but he didn't really enjoy it. It was a delight to get through the night and have the chance to see what was around them. Scanning the hills around him, he felt the weight of terror for other people's lives come off his back. The hillsides were empty. He wasn't going to be presiding over a massacre today.

Of course, he hadn't _imagined_ those fires. There was an army still out there. He wasn't sure where they'd gone or how many of them there were. There had been thousands still alive when he'd sent them fleeing months ago. How many remained? The ugly calculus of survival suggested that they could well have lost thousands of their number. The winter had been harsh this year, with deep snows in places. Lina thought it was the remnant of the Lich's work to chill the globe. In the end, it didn't really matter where the cold had come from. It was death to people out in the wilds without shelter.

The young hero went from one vantage point to another, doing his best to try and spy out what was going on around the town. He didn't want to fly. Not yet. He'd dared the madness quite a bit the last twenty-four hours or so, and he still had no idea just how much farther he had to go. So he went from place to place in town, climbing a couple of the taller buildings as he sought a place that would let him get a glimpse of the enemy campsites.

He was about that business when his phone began to chime and buzz with a familiar ring-tone. It was the same ringtone that Olesia liked to use on her phone, and he'd copied it and used it as the one that chimed when she called him. Pulling the phone from his pocket, the big man flicked it open, greeting his caller with a distracted, "hey, O. Where are you?" "Above you," Olesia replied.

Billy glanced up in time to see a streak of orange flame going across the sky. Olesia. Flying. Thoughts came to him unbidden. He remembered the last time she'd flown. She'd ended up leaving her dress behind and landed naked in front of him. He'd worn Hamest out that night, partly because she couldn't stop thinking of Olesia's beauty and partly because he couldn't either. "I'd heard there was trouble," she said. She was panting, and he imagined the exertion was taking a toll on her. She could only fly for short periods. "There was an army camped around us. I saw dozens of camp fires." "Nothing now," she puffed. "W-where you landing," he asked? He tried to keep the excitement out of his voice. It was lecherous to be thinking of her not having a stitch to wear because she was too pooped to make a new dress. "The airship should be here in a moment," she puffed. She hung up on him.

Moments later, an airship hove into view, and Billy felt a tremor of disappointment as the plump woman streaked back to the open rear ramp. He imagined the dude standing there getting a bit of an eyeful. Shaking off the sexy thought, the big man headed back towards the town hall. He felt a little bit better now. He wasn't sure if the enemy army had learned he was here somehow, but the fact that they were gone gave him a chance of getting back to the capitol. If he had his way, he'd be moving the entire population of the town to safety. They couldn't stay _here_ after all.

Olesia rode into town two hours later, looking dapper in a sky-blue outfit. Billy was waiting on her at the town hall, pacing back and forth nervously and worrying at how he was going to get a thousand souls back to the Lizard Kingdom's capitol. "You look like a man who's seen a ghost," announced the plump girl, as she alit from the fire-wolf she'd rode in on. On his side, Billy found himself stunned speechless. "O-Olesia," he burbled? "In the flame," she retorted, as she came striding up the steps towards him. Looking around her, she said, "a lot of people. How are we moving them?"

Meanwhile, in the Candy Kingdom, an exhausted and worried Thor strode into the offices of Taylor, Rheinhold, and Rainicorn, brushing past the secretary at the front desk by the simple expedient of flashing his golden badge of office. The big man strode into Kim Kil Wan's office to find the hybrid sitting behind his desk engaged in going over his taxes. It was a constant game to the wealthy dog-icorn. How close could he shave it? How many loopholes could he exploit?

Glancing up at the stranger, the hybrid growled, "I told my secretary no visitors today." Taking up the ledger, he said, "make an appointment. I should have something free in a couple of weeks." Thor, who was well used to the self-important and their antics, calmly said, "this isn't a social call. This is the kind of business that earns men time in the dungeon." Kim's blood chilled. He hadn't filed his taxes, so he didn't think he could be accused of cheating. What did this man want?

Striding up to the desk, the Captain of the Guard threw a small, much-folded, piece of paper on the desk. "That was found in the pocket of a corpse at the Royal Science Academy last night," said Thor. A puzzled Kim unfolded the dog-eared, battered mess of a document. It was stained from having food dribble on it while the owner had been eating. "It's a work-writ," said Thor. "From your company." Kim recognized the stationary through the ketchup stains. What was puzzling was why this involved _him_.

Nodding at the document, the Captain told him, "the owner of that document was killed in a bloody attack on the Science Academy. He and his friends are believed to have possibly abducted several important persons from a conference there. This man was killed in a fight with the security-bananas." As Kim digested that, the Captain hit him with the dangerous piece. "Your man there was one of many who came from the uncivilized lands on the far side of the Grey Forest," said Thor. "He was admitted as a guest-worker at the behest of your Human Resource department." Now Kim zeroed-in on his daughter's handwriting at the bottom of the page. Bronwyn had written that warrant.

Sharp glance at the thug in the suit, and the dog-icorn howled, "you can't believe that this has anything to do with _us_?" "I have to investigate all possibilities, Mr. Rainicorn," said Thor. "Your company brought this man into the civilized kingdoms. You're responsible for him and what he does–or did..." Kim's blood began to chill. He'd brought in... _hundreds_. He'd brought in a small army for Chelsea. What if there were more such criminal scum among them? He'd feared she wasn't being very careful with the men she was hiring. The blowback from this could be... _painful_. "I'm going to need to possibly probe some records," said Thor. "I need to know where this man was assigned to work. I may need to know who his friends are and where they can be found." "W-we'll cooperate fully," Kim stammered. His business partners were going to be _very_ upset with this. He needed to get hold of Chelsea.

"Thank-you for your time," said Thor, as he turned to go. "My investigators will be dropping in shortly to chat and look at your records. "Of course," Kim agreed. "We'll be open. I'll let my people know to expect them." But he was saying it to Thor's back. The big man was already headed out. He had what he came for. This dude was up to his eyeballs in this. It was there in his eyes. He had gotten involved in somebody else's play, without idea the first just what the other man was up to. Thor had seen it half a hundred time in the gangs with this or that lieutenant going out on a limb for another man without realizing it. Then they got fried for the other man's shenanigans. You always looked before you leaped in the gangs. Now Thor had to figure out who the other player was and just what he was up to.

Back in the Lizard Kingdom, Billy was getting a surprise of his own. More than having changed appearance–though that was shocking enough–her whole demeanor had changed. Far from the mousy little woman who'd left them in the Grey Forest, Olesia was confident and forthright, challenging him on his ideas and the things he wanted to do. Of course, if Billy was having issues, the plump girl was having issues of her own. First and foremost of those was the _staring_. He would stop talking to her and just stand there _staring_ at her, as if she'd grown a second head or something. He'd been staring at her since she'd arrived, and it was starting to irritate her.

Now, as she found herself asking him again if riding-lizards could handle air-travel, she finally ran out of patience. "Look," she asked, "is there something wrong?" Billy flushed to his hair. Caught staring! At the same time, he'd been going around in circles with the same worry. He'd been _shocked_ by her appearance. She'd lost a _lot_ of weight, and he half feared that Ingrid had been working her to death–starving her. Maybe it was time just to ask the question. "O," he rumbled, "a-are you well?" Olesia greeted that question with a pensive frown. "Fine, actually," she replied. He wasn't sure how to say this. Women were touchy about their looks. Not that she looked _bad_ or anything. If anything, she looked slim and firm in all the right places. "Just worried is all," he said. "You look like maybe you've been working too hard..." Stepping off, the plump woman coolly told him, "war isn't a social outing, William, as you well know."

Billy stared at her, his face gone hot. Yeah, he'd stepped in it. At the same time, he was struck by just how beautiful she was. She'd gone from being pretty to being a bonafide fucking knockout! That ass was just as fucking amazing as before, only firmer, her broad hips tapering into a neat waistline. Fuck he wanted to do her something awful. He wanted to bang the shit out of her and make some half-elemental babies of his own. Shaking off his shock–and the boner that threatened to grow in his pants, the big man rushed after her, heading down the hill to where the two cyborgs were waiting with their airship.

His plan was to fly a small heard of riding-lizards up here. There were sledges and sleds aplenty in the town from the stone-cutting business. The snow was still deep enough that he thought they could drag them by the half-dozen across the land. Where it _wasn't_, he could easily _make_ it deep enough. He was an ice-wizard, and it was cold enough that he wouldn't have to exert himself–or the power of the Ice-Tiara–very much to do it. "I can put the lizards into torpor," he said. "It's already close enough with the cool air. It won't take much to put them over the edge. When we get them back here, you can warm them up again." "Alright," she said. "Let's get this done." Time was wasting.

Leaving Olesia watching over the village, the Ice-Prince got back aboard the airship and headed south and west to the capitol. Landing near the beach, the big man headed immediately for the nearest stockyard. There wasn't a moment to waste. That was where Hamest found him, haggling over the cost to borrow some of the owners' wares. The man behind the counter seemed hardly perturbed that an entire village of his countrymen was under threat, and Billy was close to the limit.

Seeing his would-be wife there at the door, the big man decided that a threat of a different sort was in order. Calmly, he said, "I've already offered as much as the treasury will support. You can take the payment, or you can take thirty years. Dungeon." The fat lizard hadn't missed the arrival of his overlord. A shudder of terror went through him. People _starved_ in the dungeon! "Uh, yes... of course...," he stammered. "Thirty-five riding-lizards... Coming right up!" Turning to the stable door, he shouted, "Adom! Adom! Get this man some lizards! Yes, right now, you lazy bastard!"

As Hamest approached, the younger man waved her off. This wasn't the time. There were people who needed to be saved. Billy's eyes were on the wares going out the side door. One by one, he counted them out, his eyes doing a quick check to make sure they weren't getting any that were lame or ill. The stress of the flight back up to the village would already wreak havoc on them. He didn't need them sick at the start.

Striding back outside, he moved in to get the whole thing organized while the Lizard Princess herself stood back, staring at his back. No, she wasn't going to get to sweep this whole mess under the rug. He wasn't angry at her–not anymore–but the race was on to save a thousand lives, and he had no time for games. As the wranglers led their charges down the street to the beach, the big man stopped to say goodbye.

"I'll be back tonight," he told the princess. "Keep watch for us. That army went somewhere. We might be fighting them. Keep trying to get that second machine running." Fighting back tears, Hamest nodded, saying nothing more as her young lover strode off down the street. Billy spared no more thought for her. He had to get the lizards on the plane. He had to keep them docile without killing them. Then he and Olesia had to lead a caravan of terrified lizard-folk back down the mountain to the capitol. And he had to get it done before dark if he could manage it. Life was about to get really interesting.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, Kim Kil Wan was becoming a bundle of agitated nerves. He'd been calling Bronwyn since Finn's thug had left his office with no success at all. His daughter's phone rang and rang and rang before going to voicemail. And said voicemail box was _full_. Calls to the phone company directed him to call the Grey Forest's telephone company. Their radio-tower was transmitting. As far as the Candy-Kingdom's phone-company was concerned, the problem was in the Grey Forest.

Kim had begun to focus on one very dangerous thought. Chelsea was tied into this. Somehow Chelsea was involved in this. She'd been the one to come to him asking for help bringing those men into the civilized kingdoms. She'd been the one pushing and pressing to get those warm bodies imported. Her agents had taken charge of them. Could she be involved in something illegal? Kim was terrified that his _friend_ was playing him.

Now, as the sun was headed down in the sky, the pretty opera starlet came strolling into his office after having made him wait for over an hour. Her eyes had a strange cast to them. Gone was the sexy smile with the pretty, pouty lips. In place of the smile was an almost sinister expression suggesting that there were dark thoughts behind those pretty eyes.

Before she'd fully stepped into the room, Kim opened with, "where've you _been_?" "Working," she replied. "The opera's closed," Kim retorted! "There's not even a rehearsal today!" "Oh, you think that's my _only_ business," she replied. A shiver went through him at that too-casual suggestion that his fears were right. Nodding, the wax-hustler strode forward, heels making soft thumps on his carpeted floor. "I'm guessing the guard showed up," said she. Fists clenched, he stretched himself across his desk, getting right in her face as he growled, "one of those men turned up dead robbing the Science Academy! Now my daughter's not answering her phone! I demand to know what's going on!"

Casually, Chelsea clawed him square in the face, raking her nails across his jowls. The bite of the poison was immediate. The businessman fell screaming across his desk. He quite lost control of his stretchy-powers, and his body thrashed and shook, causing the odds and ends on his desk to go sailing off to crash on the floor. Casually, Chelsea threw a packet on his shaking, shuddering body, saying, "she's alive. She'll _stay_ alive. For now. I need five-hundred men brought in over the next three weeks, and I need the eggheads from the Academy moved out of the country. I had to kill that piece of shit you gave me to get the job done, so now _you_ get to do it. Tomorrow. My minions will be in touch. Don't try to fuck me, Kim. Bronwyn will suffer if you do."

The murderess turned and walked away. She'd heard things about his father that had terrified her, and she'd used her strongest poison. She'd been half afraid it would kill him and half afraid it would do nothing at all. Now she had some ideas what his limitations were. Standing at the door, she said, "don't test my resolve, Kim. You have other levers besides Bronwyn..." He had sisters and a brother and a mother to hurt. With an evil chuckle, she added, "that's not my _strongest_ poison after all..."

It was _hours_ before Kim was able to pull himself together. Having sent his secretary home out of fear of what she might hear, he'd been alone and screaming in pain. Somewhere in the middle of the writhing agony the poison left him in, the dog-icorn had shit his pants, leaving him laying there in his own sweat and shit when he finally got control of his traitorous body once more. His overwrought mind was in a state of complete turmoil, as he was finally able to get his nerveless fingers to close around the packet that witch had so casually dropped. Tearing it open, he was horrified to find a single snippet from Bronwyn's hair.

His mind went to his family, and thoughts of calling on them for help. Trouble was that they were, none of them, fighters. Only his father had any skill at the business, and Jake was _old_. Charlie, Viola, and TV would be far in over their heads, just like he was. Worse, that bitch had threatened all of them. She'd threatened to hurt them too, and the news that she'd murdered Barry suggested that she was well capable of carrying out those threats. There was just one person who _could_ help him, but he'd burned pretty much every bridge there was with Finn the Human. _You have to do something,_ he thought. Bronwyn was in danger. His baby was in danger.

Across town, the object of his thoughts sat staring at his phone. Billy had pulled it off. He was within sight of the Lizard Kingdom's capitol, in spite of a few false-starts and a little drama along the way. He had the thousand or so souls from the village within reach of safety with maybe ten miles or so to go. He had Olesia with him for backup, and, if worse came to worst, the Lizard-Guard could sortie out to help him.

"Are you even listening," Drew demanded? "Yes," he said. "I am. Chiang's a wiz-kid. If Maja believes that what she's doing is safe, I'm comfortable with letting it continue. He's still getting nappy-time and getting toys to play with, so she's not violating my wishes." Drew glared at him, as he slid his phone into his pocket. "W-where're you going," she asked, as he turned to go. "Promise to keep," he said. "I'm late." "You're not going to do anything," she demanded? "I'm going to continue to monitor Chiang's schedule," Finn replied, as he reached the door to the infirmary. "If I find that he's not getting nappy-time or playing with his toys, then I'll intervene. Goodnight, doc."

Leaving the fuming doctor behind, the big man headed downstairs, taking the back-stairs to avoid his bodyguard. This was a commitment where he didn't want a tag-along. The girls had put him into this–made a promise for him–but they would likely get quite irritated with how he was going to carry out said promise. He imagined he was just supposed to _do it_ to Riley or something. They seemed to think that was what it was like for a dude. You just got your rocks off, and that was what counted. He liked emotional connections too. He wanted to feel _involved_ with the woman who was going to have his baby.

Slipping down to the garage, the King shed his jacket and tie and even his famous bear-hat. His blue eyes got him access to the garage and a Banana-Guard truck. Minutes later, he was rolling out of the gates, his bodyguard still upstairs, waiting on him. He waited until he was a good half-mile down the road before flicking on the lights and siren. With a grin, the big man floored the throttle, roaring off down the road, as people scattered out of his way.

Minutes later, he arrived at the ramshackle house that Riley and Teri kept on the outskirts of the capitol. Teri was on the job at their club right now, training a new barkeep and running the club. Shutting the lights off up the street, the big man almost _coasted_ into the driveway, easing the truck into the shadows behind Riley's beater. It was a pretty, _quiet_ street in a nice neighborhood–the perfect place for a couple of kids to grow up.

Riley herself was sitting on the porch when he came up the walk. "Hey," he greeted her. The curvy woman came rushing down the stairs to him and all but jumped on him. Just for tonight, they were going to be a thing. She'd day-dreamed of this across years of day-to-day living. A part of him sorta-kinda thought of the might-have-beens. Just like with Cherry, he had been lost in his own world of pain and loneliness–too lonely to see the other lonely souls around him until fate thrust Simone almost literally into his arms.

Of course, she couldn't miss the _difference_ in him. Letting go of him, she grabbed for his hand, pulling his mechanical arm into the light. There was no mistaking the dull metallic grey for the pale flesh he'd been born with. "Y-your arm," Riley howled! Her heart was in her eyes. "I'm ok," he replied. "W-what're you doing here," she demanded? "I... shouldn't you..." He knew exactly where she was going to go with that, and he headed her off, saying, "taking my girl on a date." With a smile, he added, "made you a promise..." The former lycanthrope threw herself on him and hugged him, sniffing back tears.

Taking her by the hand, the big man headed back down the walk to her car. At the passenger side, he took the keys and opened the door for her before heading over to the driver's side. His phone buzzed, but he ignored it. It was his irritated bodyguard. That could wait a bit. With the key in the ignition, the two roared off, laughing like the old friends that they were. As he drove six blocks to the drive-in theater in the woods, Finn couldn't really help remembering the time he'd taken Marceline to couples-night at the movies. He'd been little more than a boy back then, with no idea what he was asking to do. Marceline had teased him by insisting 'no tongue', when he'd had no idea how to kiss a girl. Now here he was again at couple's night at the local drive-in. He was older, knew much more about girls and kissing both, and he had absolutely no intention of watching a fucking movie.

The theater in the woods was much as he remembered it as he carefully took the turns in Riley's truck, bouncing over bumps and ruts in the rough forest trail. The owners had widened the trail, but they'd done little else to improve the place, making it one of the biggest make-out spots in the kingdom. A part of Finn imagined someday his kids might be coming here with boy or girlfriends to learn about sex. He hoped their transition went better than his had.

Back in the Lizard Kingdom, Billy rode into town at the head of a long line of wooden sledges and sleds carrying hundreds of lizard-folk to find Hamest waiting on him at the gates of the city. Dropping from the saddle, the big man strode forward towards his woman, intent on having a little reunion with her. The older woman's face was shadowed and haunted, but it lit up when she caught sight of him. Billy, who'd been wound up by the last twenty-four hours of stress and terror, was just as happy to see her.

And then Olesia rode into view.

"What is _she_ doing here," Hamest growled? With a shrug, Olesia retorted, "helping to protect your kingdom." Billy met that jealous question with a shocking response. Grabbing her by her hair, the big man pulled her face to his and stole a kiss. At the same time, he got a big handful of her round ass, stroking and squeezing it in front of everyone there, Olesia included. When he broke that kiss, the needy cougar lay her head on his shoulder. Billy held her, stroking her back with the tips of his fingers, while she cried softly.

In the Candy Kingdom, the young prince's father sat in the back of Riley's truck, half-watching the movie on the screen before them and half-watching the woman at his left. Riley had started the evening a little keyed-up. Maybe it was the moment. Maybe it was the shock of his new arm. Whatever it was, it had taken a while for her to relax. Having been down this road a couple times with Emeraude, Beeps, and even Marceline, the big man just sat there and bided his time. As the movie rolled, the woman beside him slowly unwound and relaxed, finally laying her head on Finn's shoulder.

The big man was ready and waiting, and he casually slipped an arm around her, letting his hand lay there as if he were just keepin' her warm or something. The movie itself was going to do much of the work of getting her worked up. Finn had chosen this night as his date-night with Riley for a reason. Tonight's movie was a special movie. He'd learned that on a date-night with Simone a long, long time ago. Couple's night didn't show the usual fare.

As the pair in the truck watched, the young woman on the screen left her husband's funeral, and a limo brought her home to a big, beautiful house. Before their eyes she wandered the parlor as if she was soaking in her memories of the place. It was an odd start for a movie night where they were supposed to be making out, but then, as the young woman picked up this and that oddment of her life with her husband, she began to show signs that maybe she was a little horny. Those signs grew plainer to the audience's eyes as she began to rub her thighs together sensually while staring at a picture of her partner.

Finn, who'd been observing Riley as she watched the show, deftly slipped his arm down around her waist. He was ready when the girl on the screen began to slowly play with her self. It was subtle at first, as she touched her plump titties almost by accident. Then, as she got hornier and more involved in her sex-play, she began to go further. As Riley and Finn watched from the comfort of the truck's back-seat, the girl began to rub her snatch through her dress, stuffing her hand between her legs and running her fingers back and forth against her gash. Riley's plump lips parted in a soundless 'O' as she watched the action.

Abandoning the pretense of looking at old pictures, the girl in the movie went to the couch and sprawled across it. Hiking her skirt, she revealed that she wasn't wearing any panties, and now she began to run a slim finger in and out of her hot, moist pussy. A gasp from Riley told Finn that she felt his big hand stroking the base of her heavy, left titty. Gently Finn stroked that heavy love-mound as the girl on the screen began to toy with her own modest knobs, popping them free of her dress so she could stroke and caress them, while she fingered her steamy gash. At the same time, Finn casually slipped his hand under Riley's tank-top, getting skin-on skin with her hard, flat tummy. His rough, calloused hand seemed to glide across her stomach, teasing the flesh almost as if asking which direction it should go. Up? Or down?

Riley sighed heavily and snuggled in closer as Finn's strong hand stroked her big titties through the lacy bra she wore. Soft sights and gasps left her lips as he caressed her heavy love-mounds. She had a peach of a pair, big as Simone's. As the girl on the screen was joined by an imaginary lover, who began to eat out her hot pussy, Finn turned to the sexy lycanthrope and kissed her, savoring the taste of those luscious lips, finding Riley hungry for it. Yeah, this was another case of his not seeing the forest for the trees. Riley. Cherry. How many others? He'd been chasing princesses and getting rejected left, right, and center, when there were women who would have been glad to have him.

As he swapped spit with his girl, his hand deftly popped the catch on that bra, freeing those knobs. Now, as Riley gasped into his mouth, Finn began to pinch her pointy nips and squeeze those heavenly knockers. Around them, other couples were starting to focus less on the movie and more on each other. Finn tuned that out as he focused on his woman. He was supposed to be knocking Riley up after all. Sliding her top up to get better access, the big man got to grips with those big knobs. Breaking that kiss, he bent and went after them, sucking and nibbling on the hard tips as Riley began to moan and whine deep in her throat. Just like the girl in the movie, her big, juicy ass was wriggling all over the place. Kissing her again, he reached down and unfastened her shorts with Riley opening her muscular, trim thighs to let him.

A corner of his mind thought of Marceline and wondered if she'd been creeped out to be here with a kid at a make-out spot. Knowing Marceline, probably not. Hell, if he'd been any older, she might have gone for it. He kinda-sorta wanted to drag the Queen of Darkness back here and give her all the _tongue_ she could handle and then some. In the right-now, he had the beautiful sight of Riley laying there sprawled on the bench-seat before him. Those titties were amazing. The big man went from one to the other, sucking and slurping on them, squeezing and caressing them while Riley moaned and thrashed beneath him.

Finn reached down and slipped his hand between her sleek, toned thighs and began stroking her pussy, finding her already moist. As he continued to suck and slurp on those big knockers while he fingered her hot crack, she got even wetter. To say that she was as old as he was, she had an amazing body. Of course, she was a dancer. She had to take care of those legs. They'd earned her bread when she was alone here.

Taking time out between rounds of going after those knobs, the big man teased at her neck and exchanged hot kisses with her. It was a vast difference from her first time with some long-forgotten schlub. He'd mauled her titties, and he'd really only seemed to care about getting off himself. She'd gone home frustrated and a little angry. Just like Teri had said, this man was the real deal. Maybe it was all the princess-snatch he was slaying, but Finn had the touch. The thought that he was going to do it raw to intentionally knock her up just made it nastier.

The horny lycanthrope whined and moaned and whimpered as the big man worked her over, and her hands clawed at his wrist as he skillfully brought her off again and again. She was panting and covered in sweat when he finally stopped. Somewhere in the middle, when she'd had a blinding orgasm that left her gasping for air, he'd pulled her shorts off. Now the big man unfastened his pants and let the huge dick that had wrecked Teri's pussy flop out. It slapped her hard, flat tummy with a resounding *whack*, telling her that he was going to destroy her snatch too. But first, he pulled her face to his and tried to devour her lips.

Riley melted into Finn's arms as he stroked and caressed her hot, feverish body as that kiss went on and on. At the same time, he positioned the hard pecker at her entry. She was vaguely aware of the feel of his big pecker against her pussy. And then Finn shoved it in for the first time. "Aooooaaaa," howled Riley as Finn eased his massive cock-log up her virgin pussy. Finn was startled by that long, loud wail, sounding like a lone wolf out in the woods. As he drew back and stuck her again, the former hug-wolf howled like the wolf she'd been. "Aooooooaaaa," howled the lycanthrope, head thrown back, eyes wide-shut as Finn stuck her again. Several faces turned to see where the noise was coming from.

Thinking quickly, Finn stuff her panties in her mouth to shut her up. The noise was muted enough that nobody else could hear it, but she howled all the same with every jab of the stick. A twisted corner of his mind thought of his own remnant of the Hug-Wolf curse. He'd caught himself trying to scratch with his foot a couple of times. Riley's remnant of the curse was _nasty_, though. The more he pounded her sweet snatch, the more she howled. When Finn got to grips with those big titties again, she went really ape, thrashing and shaking–and howling–all at once.

The big man was in the groove, pumping his thickness deep up Riley's hot oven as she howled and moaned beneath him. Her big titties were flopping around and even smacking her in the face the way Nadia's titties did when he was giving it to his cyborg fuck-beast really hard. As his pleasure rose–as they reached the climax–the pair were one big nasty, and more than one couple had stopped to watch the proceedings in the raggedy truck. It was almost better than the movie. Driving in deep, Finn shot what felt like all the love-goo he had before collapsing on top of his woman, spent. He might have lain there until the movie was over if people didn't start clapping.

**Billy and Fionna mature. Bronwyn goes missing, and Finn creates another sibling for the Finn-kids. And Kim Kil Wan learns about the risks of side-chicks. So, bets on how long it takes him to swallow his pride?**


	20. Chapter 20

Chapter 20:

Patrick Petrikov sat himself atop a stump at the top of a rock-strewn hill that had been cleared of trees by the nymphs in their quest for cheap building materials. Slipping the baby-carrier off, he checked his daughter for signs of needing a change. Mona lay in her stroller watching him as he cared for her sister. The older sister already had a shaggy mop of unruly reddish hair that had been an endless topic of conversation in the family. Of course, Mona's grandma _did_ have relatives with red hair. Betty Grof-Mertens' hair had a reddish tint to it when she spent time in the sun. The younger sister's sparse hair was a sandy-brown.

Of course, the big news was the red-tinge to Nadine's eyes. That was an un-natural color for a human. As he put the bottle to Nadine's mouth, the young father found his mind wanting to go down worrisome tracks. Fi had a crystalline heart. She had enchanted crystal _infesting_ her body. What if she'd passed the _infection_ on to Nadine? Simone had been making noises about checking the little girl out. Nearby, soldiers stood chuckling about their pussy-whipped leader. No self-respecting dude in Slime-Kingdom sat on the nest hatching the eggs!

Ignoring the snickers and funny looks, Patrick got the job of taking care of his kids done. Then it was time to go. The patrol went up and down over hill and dale, finally meeting up with the patrol that had gone northward earlier in the day. Patrick knew there was resentment there. The terrain was rougher and wilder the further north you went. The badlands there had been scoured by his father's ice, leaving rocky creases in the land that ran twenty and thirty feet deep in places. The young wizard rationalized it. Fi needed to be here. Somebody had to watch the kids, and he wasn't trusting a nymph to do it.

As the young hero crested yet another jagged, boulder-strewn hill, his lieutenant called out to him. "Sire," the man shouted. Patrick, who'd been reconsidering Fi's efforts to drag him to the gym, glanced up in annoyance. His blood ran cold as he caught sight of the pall of black smoke on the horizon. His mind immediately went to the massive army of humanoids that had terrorized the border months ago. They were supposed to be in Lizard Kingdom. Billy had been dodging around them for days, while he worked to get the lizard-folk forted in. Could there really be _two_ armies? "Sire," his lieutenant rumbled, "we need to act." They needed troops here.

Patrick's mind was on Fionna, who was south and east of the Grey Forest on the 'Outside' looking to copy the reflecting node. For a moment, all he could think of was his wife–alone but for a few guards–and panic filled his mind. From somewhere inside, a voice sounding like his dad's offered calming advice. The enemy was here. Keep them here, and he bought time for Fi to reach the Grey Forest's gates.

Elsewhere, Fionna stood staring at her creation in profound unhappiness and unease. She'd been burning up the minutes on her phone–and annoying the shit out of Lina and Nadia–asking all kinds of sciency questions. Mostly her stepmom put up with it. She was behind. Looking back at all the times and at all the ways Emeraude had tried to help her learn, the tall blonde was ashamed. She'd _resented_ the older woman's help, and she'd leaned into her mother's affection and sympathy as a crutch against her very real problems. She'd modeled herself after her father because _he_ never seemed to have the same issues getting through life, when everybody said he was dumb as a post. It had never occurred to her that Finn had evolved himself to _master_ his handicap rather than hiding from it.

_I'm sorry, mom,_ she thought. She'd been _failing_. She was _still_ failing, really. She saw failure when she looked at the lump of weirdly glowing stone before her. She felt no closer to solving the problem than when she'd left here _weeks_ ago, but, with spring just around the corner, she was running perilously short on time. The armies of hungry peeps were going to be on the move again, and people in the condition those folks were in would be perilously close to not giving a fuck. There had already been sick fuckers literally eating some of the Lizard-Cougar's peeps. Billy had killed a lot of those fuckers, but there might be others. She had to figure this out because Nadia had bigger fish to fry.

Billy's squeeze, Abieuwa, had a whole lot of peeps dodging killer animals down in the jungles. Most of her dudes spent their time chasing down animals instead of anything really useful. Nadia was busy working on another barrier machine to solve the problem. When she wasn't doing that, she was probably doing the same thing as Sarah was doing–working out how to fix the grey dirt the undead left. She didn't really have time to work on another reflecting node. _Not really a shock that daddy's hair is going grey,_ the Bad Bunny thought. It was _all_ his. Even when other people were fucking up and failing, it was still his burrito to build.

"Fuck," she thought. "I'll have to do it again." Her unhappy assistant groaned in disgust. That meant they'd be out here _another_ few hours. They would be out here another few hours, when he wanted to get inside and out of the chill air. There was a mug of some hot, spiced berry-juice waiting on him in a bar somewhere, and he wanted to get back to it. As he was pondering how to talk his boss out of that, she suddenly shimmered and disappeared, blinking back into existence a hundred feet away. Before he could figure out just what had happened, that became the least of his problems, as a shower of arrows landed around him, piercing him a dozen times.

Fionna felt the strange tugging of Maja's rabbit's-foot charm. It was a weird tugging like somebody pulling at her hair. And then she felt the power of the curse kicking in, literally blipping her a hundred feet in the blink of an eye. Almost before she could react, a hail of arrows and steel darts shredded the egghead that Bonnie had lent her to work on the node problem. But, moments later, that was the least of her worries as hundreds of dudes came screaming out of the forest. _Well,_ she thought. _I guess I already ran out of time._ Conjuring the reddish pink crystal _skin_ that had given her the sobriquet Red Knight, the tall blonde prepared to face down death the way she had hundreds of times already.

To the south and east, the Bad Bunny's father had his face buried in Sarah's report on all that was and wasn't getting done down in the basement. Blargetha was making progress. When she wasn't poking and prodding at Sarah, she was making progress. A piece of him wanted to put a stop to that. Sarah was going through some stuff, and the poking was starting to really wear on her. With Shoko busy with the job he'd given her and Nadia prohibited from working on weapons, he didn't have a lot of choices though. Somebody had to watch the evil bitch. Finn was crippled with regard to understanding the whole business, but he owed it to Sarah to read these reports and at least try to understand what she was saying.

Beeps stuck her head in the door, announcing, "a Javier Falcon is on the line..." "Thanks, Beeps," the big man said, as he reached for the phone. "Hey, que pasa, amigo," Finn greeted the detective. "Yeah, man," said Finn, "I'm hangin' in there. Feeling better, thanks." Smiling at the rogue's subtle jabs at his drinking abilities, the big man said, "yeah, brother. We can hit some pubs. Come on by, if you want. I'll tell Ramona to save you a seat on the plane and hook you up with some crash space. Mi casa su casa." Breakfast rolled her eyes. He sounded like some dude talking with his old school chum. Shutting the door behind her, she went back to editing his latest letter. They _were_ getting better, but she halfway wanted to send the King back to school himself.

The big man spent well over an hour talking with his chatty friend, laughing and joking when he was supposed to be reading Sarah's report. Breakfast very nearly called him on it. She would have if they weren't all worried about his mental state at the moment. Finally, as the clock on her desk chimed to announce that dinner was just an hour out, the big man excused himself from that long, drawn-out conversation. Stepping out of his office, the big man shut off the light, announcing, "headed up to the nursery. See you in a bit, Beeps." Nothing like the gregarious face he'd shown the rogue on the phone. Giving her a polite peck on the lips, the big man got on his way.

Back in the hills north of the Grey Forest, a worried Patrick dialed Fi's phone one more time, praying that she was ok and worrying himself sick that she wasn't. There were a lot of people out there. Thousands of them, in fact. Scouts had reported that there were, quite literally, thousands of starving souls out there beyond the forest. They were hungry and tired, with their ribs showing. Lots of them were girls and kids, but there were a lot of dudes who were well-armed and looking ready for a fight.

Behind him and on either side, he had his much smaller force arrayed and ready to go. They only had a couple miles of open boarder to guard, but he felt overwhelmed. If the enemy wanted to push this, things might get dangerous fast. He needed to focus, but his mind was on Fi. He wanted his wife here with him. It wasn't really any safer for her than where she was. If she'd made it back to the forest, it might be _less_ safe. The nymphs could simply close down their gates if they wanted and seal themselves into their haven. At the same time, Patrick wanted to _know_ things were in hand.

Miles away, the object of his thoughts did a neat pirouette, as she sliced off the arms of two men reaching for her. She was tempted to blip herself all the way back to the safety of the forest. She could do it. She thought she could do it. At the same time, the admonishments of her moms and grandmother were in the back of her mind. After her dad's ugly scare with the Curse, they'd extracted a promise from her. Cool it. Let us do some digging in the libraries to find out just how serious this thing was. As far as they knew, she and her dad were the last two members of the family showing the signs. And the Quicksilver Curse had gone very virulent in her dad.

Men screamed in pain as she dealt them fatal wounds. Without serious doctoring, those men were going to die. It was ugly. Her daddy wanted an end to the ugly, and Fionna thought he was right. At the same time, she had a hubby and two babies to live for. And, well, somebody had to take over if dad went down. That might be Billy. It might be Star. It might even be Fionna. Cut-thrust-cut, and two more men went down, as the Red Knight slashed and hacked her way towards freedom. The space was opening up. She was getting closer. Unfortunately, just as it looked as though she were going to win free, a couple-hundred more dudes rushed in. _Fuuuck,_ howled the Bad Bunny.

Up ahead, the Matriarch paced out her fears on the walls of the east-gate castle. Her mind was on her daughter, out there _somewhere_. She hadn't been very happy for Fionna to be out in the wilds beyond her walls. There wasn't much sanctuary in the world of Ooo. The Huntress Wizard knew that better than most anybody, but Fionna was her best-friend's baby. She would have died to protect Simone's child. "Mother," rumbled Voletta. "I know what you're going to say, Voletta," the Matriarch interrupted. "No, Mother," Voletta retorted. "I don't think you do. I was actually going to suggest that we send a car. I can hold the sally-port open with troops. We have those men that the King lent us."

Emeraude flushed to her hair. She felt all of a fool just then. She'd told Voletta and told her again that only her orders could put nymph lives at risk. She'd tied her Lawkeeper's hands. Her aim had been to avoid the excesses of her mother's rule–to be a better leader than either of her predecessors. Now she was standing in the way of her own success. "Make it so, Voletta," the Matriarch rumbled. "It will be done, Mother," said the Lawkeeper, as she began to move. Minutes later, three trucks went roaring out of the gates with a couple-dozen slime-dudes riding in the back and a couple of Voletta's wizards in the cab. Emeraude stared after them, her mind on her baby–out _there_ somewhere and in danger.

Indeed, Fionna was surrounded at the top of a hill, with dudes coming up on either side of her. She was toe-to-toe with a few dozen, all trying to pile on to get her on the ground. She knew what that was about. It was her earliest lesson from her dad. Don't let them ground-and-pound you. When you were on your butt, you were out of options. She didn't have access to the curse. She was desperately trying to keep her promise as her hand reached, figuratively, for the curse again and again and again. At the same time, she had the powers the crystal sword had given her.

Spires of jagged stone rose from the ground, skewering this man and that. Little hardened nodules formed under the bare feet of some of the men, piercing their tender flesh and taking the fight out of them. She was buying time–delaying–as she tried to figure out what she was going to do here. Unfortunately, they were bringing up heavier and heavier weapons. She halfway feared these dopes might have a cannon. Her dad feared that the Bandit-Bitch was arming these peeps, and that would pretty much prove the case. Twisting and turning, slicing and chopping and stabbing, the Bad Bunny fought on, doing her best to cut her way out of the trap.

Now and then, the charm in her pocket would start to vibrate. Her lucky rabbit's foot would buzz like her mom's secret sex-toy. Then her powers would kick in, whether she wanted it or not, snatching her a few hundred feet away. She wasn't sure how the damned thing worked, but she was going to kiss that fucking witch when she saw her next. Of course, it was tempting her more and more and more to just take the plunge. The Curse was calling to her. She could blip herself all the way back to her safe little hotel room and be waiting up on Patrick with dinner.

The roaring of engines in the distance announced the cavalry was coming. It was like the moment Lina came swooping down out of the sky on the Lich's island to snatch her out of the jaws of certain death. Her keen eyes picked up the sight of three trucks, roaring over the terrain, taking the whoops at a speed that would have been fatal if they wiped out. _One blip,_ she thought. She thought one blip was safe enough. It was pretty certain that she wasn't getting off this hill without a fight, and there weren't enough of her mom's dudes in those trucks to fight their way to her. _Do or die, Fionna,_ she decided. Concentrating–and praying as she'd never prayed before–the pretty blonde took hold of the Quicksilver Curse and jumped.

Nyneve Dufort slammed on the brakes and swerved as the strange crystal figure sprang into existence just a dozen feet in front of the truck. It took all the skill she'd picked up in the last couple of months not to roll the truck and kill the occupants as she dodged slamming into the Matriarch's wayward kid. The nymph in the rear passenger seat screamed swear words at the strange figure, but Fionna's mind was on more basic matters. Namely, getting the fuck out of that place. Shedding her crystal armor, she hopped into the back of the nearest truck, shouting, "get us the hell out of here! Step on it!"

The reasons for her terror became readily apparent as hundreds of men came swarming down the hill towards them. Nyna Dufort threw the truck into reverse, roaring backwards away from the oncoming menace. Pulling a deft move, the plump nymph sawed on the wheel, as she spun the car a hundred-eighty degrees. And then she had the thing back in gear, roaring away with the squeal of tires and a cloud of smoke and dust. As the horde of enemies receded into the distance, the Bad Bunny breathed a sigh of relief. It was only then that she realized her phone had been ringing off the hook with her mom and hubby calling and calling.

The girls were waiting in their places when Finn walked into the dining room that evening with only Emeraude and Marceline absent. The King was whistling a tune, his mood much-improved by his conversation with his old chum, Javier. It was a hopeful sign to Simone. The weight of the job was crushing him. She could only wish she was physically there instead of stuck in fucking Wizard City. "Evening, honey," Cherry greeted him, as he passed her. "Hey," he greeted her, leaning down to kiss her as he went by. Every face there was staring at him, as he sat down, but he seemed oblivious to it. "Dinner smells great," he said. "Who cooked?" "Peps," Bonnie replied. They weren't getting any _less_ busy, unfortunately. With a smile, Finn said, "I'm just glad to be here with you all. Let's eat."

"How was your day," Simone asked? "Decent," Finn replied. Winking at Hurletta, the big man said, "me and 'Letta had good visits with the head-doc this morning." Hurletta blushed. "Didn't get to spend all the time I wanted with the kids," Finn admitted, "but I'm'a maybe go back up there later." "Don't forget sleep," Drew admonished him. Nodding, he said, "yeah... workin' on that. Thanks, babe. This daddy thing is tough work..." The doctor frowned at him. No complaint about being hectored. Nothing. What was wrong with him? "Anything interesting happen today," Betty asked? "You seem like you're in a quite the mood." Simone and Cherry both glared at her for seeming to spoil the moment. Finn, though, took that in stride.

"Talked to my buddy, Javier," Finn said. They'd had a good chat and caught up. Chuckling, Finn said, "dude's tryin' to get me to come out for a bar crawl." He'd had all the tequila he wanted to drink. Like _forever_. Frowning, the big man admitted, "found out somebody from the wastelands in the west has been maybe taking Blanca's coca-leaves. Takin' a lot of 'em." "Coca-leaves," Betty piped up? "Yeah," said Finn. "Her peeps and some of the Tequila-peeps chew on 'em. Makes 'em feel good." Blanca had once offered him Coca-Tea, and he'd been kinda' feelin' good after drinking a cup. "How _much_ coca are we talking," she asked? Her tone suggested a shoe poised to drop. "You know something, mom," Simone announced. "Spit it."

With a heavy sigh, Betty said, "in my time... you could make... I guess you'd call it an _extract_ of coca-leaf. We called it cocaine. It was a very dangerous drug." Cherry's face whipped upwards from a long study of her plate. "I've been getting _feelers_ from some low-level capos about selling a new drug they found," she blurted. She'd been getting a lot of pressure to let them put it on the market after cutting them out of the licorice and hooker business. "You can't let them do that," Betty howled! "Cocaine is horrifically addictive!"

"Slow down," Finn interrupted. Turning to Betty, he said, "I'd rather have a business that's under some kind of control than running crazy in the wind. These dudes might just might try bringing this stuff in anyway. How dangerous _is_ this exactly?" With a sigh, Betty said, "it's give-up-on-sex addictive, Finn." Several of the women there blushed, and Cherry goggled at her. She'd _sampled_ the wares a time or two, but nothing she'd ever had was better than fucking. "Cocaine... cocaine's destructive," Betty said. "It was destructive when I was young, and it had been around for over a century. I can't imagine how destructive it might be to people who've never seen it."

With a sigh, Cherry said, "something like that has a very corrosive effect on the underworld. People start to value the money more than their loyalties. I have to squash this." "Ok," Finn agreed. "Question is, who would be putting this on the market..." "I think the people in question have connections to the Wax-Hustlers," Cherry admitted. Finn's frown deepened, as he thought of a pretty face from a very-recent encounter. His mind had stopped believing in coincidences. Cherry was still talking, and she said, "the wax-folk operate a fleet of airships. Each of their households has at least one, and some have as many as a dozen. They operate all over the west, and they come as far east as Turtle Kingdom."

"They've come farther," Hurletta opined. When everyone was looking at her, the slime-princess said, "a wax-hustler carried my sister to the east. She was captive on one of their ships for a while, remember?" Nodding, Finn said, "and I think I know who this woman is." Shaking himself, the big man said, "ok. We have our decision. Cocaine is banned. Anyone offering it for sale is to be put to death. If the gangs want to bring coca-tea, that is sanctioned, but extract of coca is off-limits." "Thanks for understanding, honey," Cherry agreed. Of course, that still left his worrisome coincidence.

He'd never delved too deeply into the woman Blargetha had described. His mind had been fixated on the Bandit Princess, and the encounter with the half-demon in the mines in Emerald Kingdom had cemented his worries over what she was doing. Now his mind was going in a different direction. What if the Wax-Hustler that Blargetha described wasn't just a henchman? What if she was a _partner_? It would explain a lot. More to the point, it opened up the question of just what her motivations were.

The change was subtle, as the girls watched their husband. His mind slowly wandered, his expression becoming more and more distracted. Somewhere in the middle of the soup course, his mind wandered off. It came as no surprise to anyone when he excused himself halfway through the chicken, wandering out of the dining room and leaving worry in his wake.

The King went downstairs. He went down and down and down to levels of the palace that nobody visited who wasn't a committed member of his family. He went down to the place where his problem-child currently spent her time under the watchful eye of his android wife. Blargetha was just as he'd last seen her, though sporting a natty red dress today that showed off the charms Maja had gifted her with. Indeed, the sexy red dress with the cleavage cut that went from her neck all the way to her belly seemed wasted in the dim light of Bonnie's lab.

The evil genius had her face up against some kind of microscope, as she wielded a soldering tool. Piles of the little plastic boards Nadia called circuit-cards lay scattered around the room as if Blargetha had worked on them a bit and discarded them. Indeed, the room stank of chemicals and unsavory odors. So into what she was doing was the slime-princess that she nearly jumped out of her skin when Finn called her name.

"Fuck," she growled! "Don't you know how to _knock_?!" Finn's face was hard and distant, telling her that he had no fucks left to give. "I'm busy," she muttered, "or did you want those weapons you asked for?" "Who was she," the big man growled? "Who was who," the irritated princess retorted? The big man got in her face and snatched her out of her chair, causing her to yelp in terror. "Who was the wax-woman," he demanded? Chaffing at her wrists as if in injury, the plump woman retorted, "fucked if _I_ know." His eyes suggested he didn't believe her. "She knew you well enough to want to reach out to you," Finn insisted.

"Did it ever occur to you that certain things bring you a _name_, Finn," the plush princess retorted. His look of utter bafflement made her laugh. She had a strangely pretty laugh. Tugging the knot of his tie, the slime-princess said, "you're known far and wide as a man who... takes care of _problems_. What do you think I'm known for? Hmm?" "So you're saying she knew you from science or something," he asked? "Was she a science-buddy?" Turning back to the soldering-station, she said, "she wasn't my _friend_, Finn. Not anymore than you are. To her I was just a living machine–someone to build the ugly things she needed. That woman didn't give two _fucks_ about me. She'd have done me in when I gave her those fucking rockets..." With a bleak smile, she stroked the valley between those big cans of hers, drawing his eyes to the scar there, as she said, "not as personally and with way less panache..." The big man flushed. Glancing away, he said, "we have a deal, Blargetha..." She laughed, "a pretty one-sided deal, Finn. There's more to life than living."

"I let you keep your life," he muttered. "You're an ungrateful bitch. You act like you're the victim in all this, when you were responsible for a lot of the war." "You have no idea what it's like to be me, Finn," Blargetha snapped! "I was hated and looked down on by my sister and her idiot friends until I started to hide my intelligence. I've had to pretend to be a dummy because I _intimidate_ men. I was cast as my sister's enemy before we were even born because _she_ got hatched first. I couldn't have a man of my own until _she_ got married and had an heir. Do you have any idea what it's like to _live_ like that?! Do you?!"

This was going somewhere he hadn't expected when he left the dining room. It was going somewhere his conscience didn't want it to go. It was one thing to hate this woman for what she'd done to his friend. He'd been afraid that she'd done away with Hurletta. It was something else to see this woman as a person–alone and vulnerable with all the problems that every person had. "I'm _alone_, Finn," she sobbed, "alone against the whole fucking world. That shit preys on your mind. And now I'm a dead woman walking, living under a suspended death sentence. And when I'm gone, nobody'll be there to collect the body..."

"We have a deal," he muttered. "I have no reason to kill you." "Until 'Letta has her way," she retorted. Finn got in her face, snarling, "I am _King_. Murder's not sanctioned on my watch, Princess Blargetha." "Not even for what someone might have done to someone you love, Finn," Blargetha murmured? Her breath against his face sent a chill through him. "Not for Breakfast or Toast," she asked? His face went red hot. He'd planned to torture men to death. He'd planned to have a torture-party for Toast. "An event like that does things to a man," Blargetha murmured, as she straightened his tie once more. "I... more than earned your wrath for what I did to my sister. Do you dispute that?" "I told you that you have nothing to fear from me," Finn growled, as he turned to go. Standing at the door, the big man growled, "do what you promised me, Blargetha... You need have no fear of me, then."

**Wonder what the toxic-twins are going to do with their mound of Cocaine now?**


	21. Chapter 21

Chapter 21:

He wasn't supposed to be doing this. At least, his _priority_ was supposed to be somewhere else. He was supposed to be getting Nieve pregnant. To seal the deal. He was supposed to consummate an unhappy political marriage with a woman who hated his guts. And while his wives had encouraged him to 'make nice' with Hamest, the family wanted the southern border secure–along with Muscle Kingdom's rich farmland. The news that their adversary was interested in those same lands as a way into the protected heartland of his father's dominion made that all the more urgent.

Except that Nieve hated him. Nieve hated him and Hamest wanted him. The Lizard Princess wanted him badly enough to all but _beg_. Which pretty much meant that Billy rather wanted Hamest more than he wanted anything at all to do with Nieve. "Oh, Billlleeee," wailed the pretty blonde beneath him! He'd tied both her wrists to the bedpost, and he was drilling her good. Head thrashing back and forth, her skin going from a deep crimson to a pale, cream like human skin, Hamest was going crazy. Again.

Nor was she alone.

He had to admit it. Having finally given in and screwed her, Billy had to admit Hamest was a good lay. Crazy in bed like JJ had been and just as hungry for it, she'd been more than hinting that she'd like to be his bitch for tomorrow or the next decade, whatever he wanted. It was really tempting to accept that offer, even though Nieve's folks were expecting a kid to come along real-soon-now. "Oooaaa... B-b-billllyyyy," wailed the nasty cougar. He was in the spot, and it was likely that everybody in the palace knew it. For Billy, that just made it nastier. From doing his best to be discrete about what was going on between them, the big man had come around to enjoying the stares and the looks he got. Fuck it, why not?

Of course, he wasn't using a rubber. He'd only ever used one twice. She was older. She was old enough that getting preggers wasn't an automatic thing like it was for somebody his age. At the same time, he was still rolling the dice. Of course, Bonnie and Betty had been pig-squealing to his dad about the instability of the kingdoms with heirless leaders. After all, Elbow Kingdom and Peanut Kingdom would be a lot better off if Bathilde and Maudie had made some babies. He might very well be _solving a problem_. The thought was so nasty, the big man shoved his pecker in deep and shot his white-sauce deep in the Lizard Princess's ruined little snatch. Head thrashing, Hamest went over right after him.

Climbing off the slutty princess, the big man said, "yeah... That was nice..." He really couldn't help giving her heaving titties a stroke in possessive fashion. Patting her flat belly, the big man got up, saying, "I better get going." He wanted to find out what was really going on with the mystery army roaming the wilderness. "B-billy," Hamest squealed?! He hadn't untied her! Billy was headed for the toilet, leaving her there, laying in the nasty, wet spot, covered in sweat and sex-juice.

Hundreds of miles to the west, Thor sat atop a ruined building on the edge of one of the great deep-water ports in the south of Engagement Ring Kingdom. Goods of every description passed through this port, and, at any given time, you could find hundreds of vessels here ranging from fishing dinghies to massive steam-powered freighters. As he sat watching, a black limousine rolled up to a warehouse on the largest of the piers. TRR Shipping and Cartage. Yeah, this was the place.

He'd been trailing the fool in the limo since the raid on the science academy, quietly looking into some of his business dealings. Much of it was the typical run of bullshit the rich got up to, thinking nobody would ever know. Drugs. Hoes. That kind of thing. So far, nothing had jumped out. Thor had stayed on the trail, though. Even the dumbest of capos usually kept his real dirt on the down low and out of sight. You could expect to get drilled and end up in somebody's wall if you didn't.

"What are you doing here," announced an unpleasantly familiar voice? A shiver went down Thor's spine. He knew that voice very well. "No Star," The Moon remarked. She was off to his left. Invisible. He'd seen the big cavalcade roll into town. His train had been delayed twice while the vampires and their household moved from the train station and into the castle by the beach. A soft touch caressed his heavy jaw. "Not interested," Thor muttered. Pouty voice, "not even a little?" "We're both married," Thor reminded her.

The mark had gotten out of the car and gone into the warehouse. "Lot of men in there," Candy remarked. Thor's face whipped around. "I can smell them," she said. She could smell their blood and hear their heartbeats. "Your heart is pounding," she giggled. "You're not _afraid_?" "Of being munched," Thor replied? "Nah. I'm afraid Star will get the wrong idea and kick my ass all over the house again." That had become a serial bummer. He didn't dare even _look_ in the direction of a pretty girl. He'd been tempted to tell this chick to get lost. Now he asked, "how _many_ dudes are in there?" "Hundreds," yawned the vampire in tones that suggested boredom. She'd been tempted to snoop. She liked pretty men. That was _very_ interesting to the detective. "Since you're here...," Thor rumbled.

Back in the Lizard Knigdom, Billy strolled into Hamest's audience chamber to find Olesia waiting on him. "Morning, O," Billy greeted the plump elemental. "William," the younger woman responded. It was about as cold a greeting as could be managed. Something was bugging this girl, because she'd been cold, distant, and even a little cunty the last few days since she'd gotten here. They'd worked and worked well together, but far from being infatuated, Olesia was borderline hostile, and Billy wanted to know why. It helped not at all that he was a little stunned and startled by her new look. Every time he tried to bring it up, though, she basically shut down the conversation. It was crazy, and he halfway thought he ought to let it alone. He had enough troubles as it was. At the same time, the curiosity was eating him alive. What had happened? What did Ingrid do to this girl?

Just as he was making up his mind to open the can of worms, Hamest came into the room, looking pissed. Striding up to him, she lit into him, jabbing him in the chest with her finger. He'd left her tied up for a half hour while he took a nice, _leisurely_ shower, suggesting that he'd been planning to _leave_ her there all day. Naked. Where the maids could come in and find her looking like a _whore_. With an evil grin, the big man caught her chin with his big right hand and said, "yeah, but you sure looked sexy like that..." The princess stopped in mid-rant, her mouth shutting with a click. "C'mere, baby," he said. "Gimme some sugar..." He grabbed that round little ass and pulled her to him, locking his lips to hers. The angry princess melted. Brushing her long, blonde hair tenderly, the big man said, "be back tonight. Later."

Olesia, who'd watched all of that, set out at the sort of pace that suggested she was pissed. She wouldn't slow down, and she made him have to hustle to keep up if he didn't want to be seen running after another woman. Billy didn't catch up to her until she reached the stables, finding her hitching her saddle-kit onto her wolf. "Ok," he said, "sorry if that offended you..." "She's your mistress, William," Olesia interrupted. Billy shut his mouth, his face going red as her jacket. Nodding, the plump woman said, "she's your mistress. Why should I be upset if you sleep with your mistress?" Though she sounded pissed enough to set his balls on fire. Setting off, she said, "if we're going to scout for this rogue army, we should probably get about it..."

As Billy struggled to figure out what had happened to the sweet demeanor of his friend, the Warrior Princess strode onto the hill overlooking the ugly mass of people beyond the barrier. She'd arrived in the wee hours of the morning, having marched her troops all night long. She found her stepdaughter just as expected–punch-drunk from being awake most of the night. "Well," said the warrior-woman, "you seem to have discovered quite the party." Yawning, Fionna retorted, "what kept you?" "A couple of pesky castles that refused surrender," said Ingrid with a shrug. She wasn't a fan of the peanuts. She'd hungered to smash them utterly, and now she had.

Cocking her chin towards the horizon, Fionna said, "it's going to take a lot more than swords and spears to deal with that." Ingrid bristled. She'd never run from a fight, and she wasn't going to now. "Glad you said that, ghost-face," the Bad Bunny retorted, "because this isn't the kind of fight that needs a strong arm." The older woman frowned, as a sense of unease came over her. Motioning for the older woman to follow, Fionna led the way up to the brow of the hill where a small number of soldiers stood watch with telescopes, scoping out what the enemy was doing.

"We locked the main gates at the east end of the Grey Forest. Only the south and west gates are open now. Ingrid had been a little irritated that she'd had to basically march her troops _around_ the forest. Now she saw the reason. With the numbers they were facing, it would have been all too easy to get plowed under and chased into the very gates themselves. It would have been disastrous for the wood-nymphs.

"They're starving," said Fionna. "They're here because they're starving." Ingrid's face whipped around. "I went out for parley," she said. The older woman cussed her, but Fionna had already heard it from Emeraude and her husband both. "I have an edge," said the Bad Bunny. Maja's charm would literally blip her out of harms way if she was ambushed. Fionna didn't know what its limits were, but the thing had saved her a few times already. "That's bad strategy, child," Ingrid muttered. "Don't start," Fionna rumbled. She'd gotten several ears full already. "Point is," said the Bad Bunny, "they're here because they're starving. She's got them believing there's food inside the barrier–all the food anyone could ever ask for.

Ingrid laughed. The sex-machine had been working her circuits to a frazzle and the kelp beds in Crab Kingdom had been working over time. They were barely holding on. With the zombies gone, there was a hope of a harvest in the spring from Muscle Kingdom, but they barely had food to support the people inside the barrier. It was laughable to think they could feed that horde! "Daddy better start thinking about it," Fionna muttered. "I'm sure that's not the only group like this."

"I'll drive them off," growled Ingrid, as she turned to go. It was Death talking. Ingrid had been in Death's embrace long before becoming his slave. Fionna stopped her with a hand on her shoulder. "You can't pay your debts this way, mother," she said. The tall woman stopped where she was. "Death can't cleanse death," Fionna insisted. Nodding at the newcomers, she said, "most of them don't deserve that." Muttering curses, Ingrid stormed off, growling, "conference with your father. Twenty minutes."

The Inner Council was all gathered when Fionna and Patrick walked into the headquarters. Even the Matriarch was present, with her Lawkeeper and Matron of Castles at her side. "There appears to be more than twenty thousands of them," Ingrid announced, as Fionna and Patrick stepped up on either side of her. "More than Bill thought they had," Ragnhild burbled. "How can they have _two_ massive armies like this," Hurletta howled? "Starvation," Fionna replied. "I'm betting the Dipped didn't have time to finish everybody. They..." "...killed off their food supply, figuring they'd eat each other or something," snarled Emeraude. She sounded angry, and Fionna didn't blame her. Grandma Marjolaine had been in league with those things. The Bad Bunny couldn't imagine what that felt like–knowing your own momma did that kind of thing to other people.

In contrast, her father looked... _serene_. It was eerie. It reminded her a lot of the night she'd realized he planned to suicide himself to take out the Lich. He was eerily calm–more 'New Finn' than usual. _Focus, Fi,_ thought the pretty blonde. _This has to be pretty important if he's so focused on it._ "Some of those people have done awful things," Finn said. "We can offer to put them up... to build them a camp..." Turning to his wayward wife, the big man said, "I promised you the harvested wood, but I think I'm going to need it. I will compensate you with a further rebate on your taxes..." "I... I can't sell a rebate, babe," Emeraude replied. "And I need supplies to build shelter for my own peeps."

That gave the gathering pause. Biting her lip as if she might well chew it off, Ingrid offered, "I knocked in three small keeps on my way here. If I split some of my force and use my supply convoy, I can bring some of the materials here. It's... stone. Better than the trees would have been." "I'll take it," Emeraude replied. The peanuts were getting fucked on the deal, but the peanuts had been in open rebellion.

Finn took up the thread again, "they have to stay in the camp. For now. We can look at bringing them beyond the barrier this summer when I have some idea how the harvest is looking." Fionna relaxed visibly. "I want to know who committed crimes," Finn said. "I will... forgive some things. People who committed awful crimes will be punished." Fionna shivered. She knew exactly what that meant. "Alright," muttered Ingrid. "I... I better get started." The family signed off. When Ingrid would have stormed off, Fionna stopped her and hugged her. "This isn't going to be a habit," huffed the soldier, as she strode away.

In the wilds of Lizard Kingdom, Billy stood at Olesia's side, as she meditated in the middle of an empty field beside a tiny fire. At least, he was _supposed_ to be standing. In reality, he'd been pacing from the moment they arrived, and it was driving her up the wall. He'd argued with her the whole way out from the capitol about this course of action–doing his best to talk her out of doing something that she already fucking knew was bloody risky. It had been _traumatic_ to be slapped by that demon, and she'd had a couple of ugly nightmares where the damned thing froze her to death over and over and over for the fun of hearing her screams. She wasn't anymore keen on this idea than Billy was.

"I've been getting better at controlling the Ice Tiara," Billy said. He was talking about flying again–going up to have a look around from the air, in spite of the risk of the Entity taking over his mind. It was like the hundredth fucking time he'd said it. "So you really want to give away your body to that specter," Olesia retorted. "I'm sure your father will be sad to put you down, but he'll do it and move on. He's got ice-water for blood." Billy growled, "that's not funny." "Who said I was joking," the elemental retorted? "I'm trying to help you," he said. "You've done nothing but be cunty this whole time." "You're being an overprotective jerk as if I can't take care of myself," Olesia shot back. "I'm a grown woman, if you hadn't noticed." "That's what every kid in over her head says," Billy snapped.

The plump woman shot to her feet, her hair flaring with her rage, but Billy didn't back down. "Ok," she said, "since we're having a fight... the pacing is really fucking annoying. I don't think that there's packs of demons wandering around with every little rogue band in Ooo..." Scratching at the back of his head, Billy burbled, "I think that's the first time I've ever heard you swear..." Olesia stopped in mid-rant. Taking advantage of her surprise, the big man moved closer to her, saying, "I care... Is it wrong that I care about somebody who's been by my side through some pretty crazy stuff?"

The plump girl flushed and glanced away. She'd promised herself she wasn't going to be a typical _princess_–a fucking airhead staring at pretty boys and wishing. She was going to be a grownup and move on with the life she had. _So much for growing up,_ she thought, because the pain and angst was all back. All he had to say was those two fucking words, and she'd gone all squishy inside like lava. "You went off with Ingrid to help her, not to get fucking burned up," Billy insisted. "You come back looking like she's been starving you to death..."

"I'm doing what has to get done," she murmured, voice thick. It was a good thing he _couldn't_ touch her, because she would have been a goner–on her back, legs open–if he did. As it was, she was having trouble speaking, and her heart was pounding. She halfway wanted to set that fucking cougar on fire, because that should have been _her_ the night Nieve rejected him. Fucking Hamest, who was old enough to be his momma, had gotten there first. "...but you still have to be careful," Billy insisted. "You matter to us. My sister and me. _We_ care about you, and we'd be sad if you were gone. Hell, I'd be really sad because Lina would probably chase me across half the world to kick my ass for losing you." That made her laugh. She laughed and laughed about that, with Billy joining her after a moment.

He could always do that. He'd always been able to make her laugh–to make her feel better both about what was going on around her and about herself. Taking a breath, she said, "I... don't really want to talk about the things I saw, William. You understand?" The big man went very pale, his eyes showing that he knew the kinds of things you saw in a war. "Friends," he offered? "I'd like that, yes," Olesia replied. His customary friendly grin returned, as he said, "ok... let's get back to work." When she was ready to talk, he'd be right there to listen.

As Billy reconciled with Olesia, back in the Candy Kingdom, Nieve returned to the lady's locker-room of Mr. Cupcake's Gym after a long session of circuit-training. She'd despaired of finding a good workout in this mad little town, but she'd lucked upon this place in the news. The place was built into a modern, fresh building of the sort that was common in Bonnibel's mad little kingdom. It was nothing like the surroundings that Nieve was used to in her castle. At the same time, the change was a delightful change of scenery and helped her forget her grandmother's ugly threats. Wearing a delighted smile, the young woman strolled up to her locker to retrieve her belongings. It was time to get home.

Whistling a tune, the young woman popped open her locker, causing a pile of jet-black flowers to spill out. The startled woman jumped back in fright, her face snapping left and right to see who was near. Most of the folk there seemed as startled as she was. Glancing at the locker once more, she spotted the folded note sitting atop her purse. Wearing a frown of puzzlement and anger now, the haughty princess flicked the note open, receiving the second fright of the day.

_You owe me, princess. You were to deliver me the Muscle Kingdom, and now you've climbed in bed with my enemies. I expect better._

_Bandit Princess_

The terrified princess stood there trembling a moment, her face whipping back and forth, as she pondered who could have left the note. There were a dozen women in the locker room, but it could have been _any_ of them. It could even have been _none_ of them. Her fingers crumpled the note. She was staying in the Bridal Suite. Still. She'd done nothing to move herself to the palace–where all the guards and all the protection was. She'd come out here as if she was just out on a lark–having a good time and ducking work. Now she was utterly terrified that it could have cost her life! Crumpling the note, the curvy princess grabbed her bag, nearly spilling the contents on the floor and all but tore out of there. Behind her, one of the women quietly stroked the wad of bills in her pocket. The message was delivered.

Back in the palace, the King of Ooo had moved on to other business. With Ingrid there as a backstop and his daughter checking his wife's uglier impulses, he thought the business at the barrier was well in hand. He was a little bothered that the Bandit Princess had been able to field _two_ armies, but given the nature of those armies, he thought they were still in good shape. As they debated what to do about Sarah's work on the miracle cure for the burned lands beyond the barrier, knocking at the door announced a visitor. Moments later, Lollipop walked in, with Orzsebet at her side.

The Agent Princess looked tired as if she hadn't been sleeping, and Finn imagined that the news she had was both important and hard-won if she didn't bother with her usual shit of sneaking up on him. "The Lady of Spies brings urgent word of a plot in the far east," Lollipop announced. Bonnie waved her forward. Step by step, the nasty bitch approached the council table, stopping finally on the side opposite Finn. Without preamble, Orzsebet announced, "my agents have uncovered a serious plot to create another undead plague..."

Chaos reigned for several minutes, with half the family shouting in fear and rage. Finn shut the noise down with a harsh whistle. "Who and where," he asked? If she was getting straight to the point, he would do no less. "Our adversary," the Lady of Spies replied. "She's concocted a scheme to lay hands on a specimen of the zombie-plague." That news had everybody at the table practically crawling up the backs of their chairs.

"We have to send Billy to stop her," Belle declared. That suggestion earned an immediate rebuke from Ragnhild and the Dowager Princess of all people. Giving Nieve's grandmother an ironic look, the Froyo Princess said, "Billy's tied down in Lizard Kingdom. I agree the threat is severe, but..." "Billy's a wizard," opined Belle. "We can move some soldiers there... Maybe borrow them from Purple Kingdom." Interrupting the Hotdog Princess, Simone said, "this isn't something Billy or anyone else can do. Rose _trusts_ Finn." She'd _met_ the Skeleton Princess. Rose and Finn had great rapport, strangely enough. More to the point, Zombie-Skeleton Kingdom was a dangerous place, where even the water could kill you, and Finn was one of only a handful of people who'd ever gone in and come out again.

Finn sighed, and his eyes flicked to Drew. He'd been trying so hard. Breakfast demanded, "why can't we have Marshall go? He's... He's a vampire." "The Vampire King is _neutral_," Cherry retorted. Nodding in agreement with Simone, she said, "clearly, if there is great need, our stepson would help us, but this is not yet great need." "I'll go with him," Sarah volunteered. Turning to Finn, she said, "you better go see Drew for some protective equipment. Finn groaned. Usually Drew's _protection_ came with shots–lots and lots of shots.

The meeting broke up then, with Finn heading for the infirmary to find his wife and doctor. Sarah headed for her own quarters to gather up some traveling gear and equipment. She was vaguely aware of Bonnibel following her, but she didn't look back or say a word. She was having troubles with her emotions, and just the sight of her creator made it worse. The sight of anybody that she cared for drove her to distraction, and, ironically, she was starting to enjoy Blargetha's presence more and more. She _hated_ Blargetha. She would have gleefully murdered the younger slime princess, and so she was comfortable with being around the nasty bitch.

Bonnie followed her creation into the tiny room she'd taken for herself and stopped stock still. The room was little better than a cubby with a place for the android to curl up and plug herself in.

Like a closet.

Bonnie felt her heart lurch as she was confronted by signs of her own past misbehavior. "I know why you're doing this," Bonnie murmured. "Do you," Sarah retorted? Resting her hands on her double's shoulders, Bonnie said, "you're hurting, Sarah. I can see it..." The android flinched. She _did_ understand. Taking a breath, the younger woman murmured, "you can't go, Bonnibel. I can't let you go." Sarah would have gone alone, if she could. As far as she knew, the only other people immune to the Zombie Plague were Marshall, his wives, and Princess Beautiful. Everybody else was vulnerable to becoming a brain-eating monster.

Wrapping her arms around her wonderful, wonderful child, the tall princess said, "I know in my heart that I can't... You can't blame me for wanting to see a place I've never seen." Sarah chuckled. She knew. This was going to be interesting for her too. "I'll take samples," she said, as she picked up her bag. Bonnie laughed. She was going to be too busy picking up after Finn and keeping him out of trouble. "We're going to talk after you get home," Bonnie murmured, as the android-girl reached the door. With a sigh, Sarah nodded. Yeah, that was going to be a fun time.

Sarah headed upstairs to the infirmary, arriving to find Drew working their husband over. Stoically, Finn sat on the examination table, as the good doctor administered shot after shot after shot. He didn't even so much as flinch, even as the doctor's hands became increasingly clumsy because her eyes were filling with tears. "I didn't want to do this," Finn announced. He might have been talking about taking out the trash.

"I... why... what're you saying, Drew demanded?! "This feels like a failure," he admitted. Drew's mouth came open at what he was saying. Then, "I... this is who you are." "It's who I was," Finn retorted. "Because I said a few dumb things," the doctor snapped. "You said what needed to be said," Finn murmured. "It was up to me to finally listen." The pretty doctor howled, "but that's the man you are! W-why aren't you angry?! I tried to make you into something you're not! Why aren't you mad about that?!" She'd been wrestling Finn's self-destructive behavior across nearly the entire span of his life. Something, somewhere had changed, and she was terrified of what that could be. "I don't want him," howled Drew! "I don't want 'new Finn'! I want my old Finn back! I want him just like he was!"

"Baby, the old me _can't_ come back," said Finn. "I see it now as I should have seen it a long time ago. You need me to a be a better man than I was, and I have to be that man. For the love of all of you and all my babies, I have to be a better, more thoughtful man. The cost will be too great for me to bear if I don't." Rising, the big man shrugged on his shirt, saying, "I'll be home soon. I'm hoping this is the last time. For all of us." Sarah said not a word as the big man walked into the hall carrying a small package with a water-purifier and a filtration mask.

**Orzsebet is back as the bearer of very bad news. Thor discovers that Bronwyn's dad is up to very bad things, and Dr. Princess realizes that she should have been more careful with what she was asking for. No take-backs.**


	22. Chapter 22

Chapter 22:

"Twenty minutes out," announced Piotr. Finn nodded and thanked him.

The King of Ooo's expression was haunted and unhappy. It was very unlike him, and Sarah could sort of see why her cospouses were upset and worried about him. He was a different man than he had been, and who was to say if he was a _better_ man. "It's funny," Finn remarked. "The name of her home is Rebirth. I never knew that until Talia's wiz-biz." Rose had given him the name a lifetime ago when last he'd been there, but he hadn't really known what to do with it at the time. "Bonnie's memories of Skeleton Princess are sketchy," Sarah replied. "She mostly keeps to herself. Nobody really has much memory of her," said Finn. "Except Marceline." The two great undead forces of the world–the Princess of Zombies and the Queen of Vampires–both hailed from a time before the bombs.

"What's the plan," Sarah asked? "Not sure," Finn admitted. Orzsebet's news was sketchy. The Bandit Princess had agents looking to lay hands on a purified version of the virus if they could. It was a crazy thought to Finn. How did you purify a virus? "Finn," Sarah burbled, her lovely face twisting into a frown. "Yeah, babe," he replied. "Every princess guards something," the android-hottie reminded him. The big man's face went very pale. Baba Yaga guarded a copy of the bomb that wrecked the world. What if Rose guarded something equally as terrible?

It had never mattered that much to Finn what the various kingdoms contained. What would he have done if he'd known? He'd never been interested in taking what the royals had in their possession. Now, he thought it just might be the most critical thing in the world. Questions drifted through his mind. What did Rags guard? What was in _her_ Kingdom? What did Blanca and Ramona guard? All those awful things might become weapons to shatter the peace.

Shaking off the worry, the big man got up and went over to the bench where Orzsebet lay sleeping. She'd been doing quite a bit of that. She would say nothing of why or what was going on with her, which was another cause for his worry. Calling her name, the big man shook her shoulder. The older woman swam up out of the darkness full of fight and very nearly kicked him in the jaw. Those long, lean legs were shockingly strong, and he found himself on his back, with those thighs wrapped around his neck, his face stuffed into the crotch of her pantyhose. "Mmmrhmma," Finn mumbled. "I think he's saying that it's time to go," Sarah laughed.

Releasing the big man from the deadly embrace of her crotch, the Lady of Spies gathered the shreds of her dignity. Climbing off the floor, Finn took his parachute from Sarah and began gathering it on. Yeah, he needed to talk to Orzsebet about what was going on. Dusting herself off, Orzsebet retrieved a parachute of her own. The airship crew was already about the job of preparing to open the rear ramp. There was equipment to stow or tie down–lest it be blown out the rear. And then, as the ship slowly began to circle lower, they began to lower the air-pressure in the cabin. Finn could feel his ears popping, and he opened his mouth to compensate. "Five minutes," shouted the cyborg near the ramp, as he began to lower the ramp.

The King of Ooo found himself praying–for the kids who were rushing about now, tending to his empire and the kids who were just being born or growing up. He prayed that he could keep this whole thing going because a whole world of kids was depending on him. Sarah rested her hand on his reassuringly. _Once more into darkness,_ he thought, as he took those last, fateful steps. And then he was falling into the darkness over the vast desert that Rose called home.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, Princess Blargetha had her face buried into the magnifying lenses of the soldering station. Just a few hundred more circuitboards to go. She'd been working night and day on this. The cool thing was the android had done a lot of the heavy lifting of _testing_ by simulating the circuits in that lovely bundle of memory-chips and processors she called a brain. The toy-girl had found a lot of the flaws, letting Blargetha rush ahead to manufacturing her designs.

As the evil sister worked, the older sister stood in the shadows of the doorway, her mind going in strange directions. The man she'd loved for a lifetime was _out there_ somewhere, rushing into danger once more. She'd taken months to come to this decision, finally being forced off the fence by this latest trial. They were getting no younger–Finn getting no younger. The world was seemingly lined up against them. Everything she valued was at risk of loss at seemingly any moment, and she was starting to understand what her doctor had been telling her.

She wasn't promised another day.

She could wallow in misery the rest of her days, but she wouldn't get back what she'd lost. It wouldn't do a damn thing to punish those who hurt her, and it wouldn't bring back her old life. If she wanted to have a life at all, she had to move on. The world was rapidly leaving her behind.

Noise from the door announced a visitor, and Blargetha raised her head from the solder-station to find her big sister standing there. "Hello, sister," announced Hurletta. Blargetha rolled her eyes. It had been a fair bit since her sister stopped by to threaten her, and she could have done without a reprise.

Moving into the room, Hurletta looked around at her sister's new digs–finding them at once familiar and yet... _different_. Blargetha had always been a nerd–her mind far keener than Hurletta's. It was typical to find racks of bottles and vials with various chemicals in all their strange colors and arcane books in the younger sister's apartments. A younger Hurletta had seen it as industriously useless. Today's Hurletta saw it as something different.

Her sister was a slave.

Never mind that Blargetha had brought her current fate on herself. She was Finn's slave–shackled to that table to build weapons for him. Scraps of food and detritus scattered about told the tale. The younger sister all but _lived_ in this space. Stains on her dress suggested that she rarely even got a change of clothing. "Are you eating," she asked? It was out of the blue, and Blargetha stared at her. "Would you like some clothing," 'Letta asked? "We're a similar size."

The whole situation was eerie–and made all the more so by Sarah's absence. Sarah was utterly loyal to Finn, and while Blargetha knew that loyalty would see the android woman carry through on the chilling threats she'd made, she also knew that Sarah would never let her be harmed. Finn had said that she would live as long as he was pleased, and Blargetha believed that. Unfortunately, Finn and Sarah were both out of the palace, leaving her at her sister's dubious mercy. Frowning up at her sister, Blargetha demanded, "what's this about, 'Letta? Why are you here?"

Confusion was plain on the younger sibling's face. In eerily solemn tones, Hurletta said, "I need to move on, Blargetha. I want a life. I have a chance at a life with a mate and children, but hate and vengeance can only get in the way. I've spent three quarters of our joint life hating you. Now I need to let go. I have to forgive you for hurting me so I can love my child. This is goodbye, Blargetha. I won't come back, but I want there to be peace between us." The older sister paused, her eyes seeming to search her younger sister's eyes for... _something_. Blargetha's face only showed _fear_. With a heavy sigh, the older sister turned and, without a further word, walked out of the lab once more.

The evil princess sat there, staring at the door for a long, five minutes, her mind in turmoil. What did that mean? There was the obvious answer. Hurletta was making her play. She was making the play to become one of Finn's many paramours. She was going to burrow her way deeper into Finn's affection, and that was very dangerous for the fallen younger princess. Work forgotten, the plump princess rose, setting her soldering gear aside. Holding onto her face, Blargetha began to work her way through all the implications of that.

Finn had always loved Hurletta in his way. He always put up with a female that was clearly incompatible with him doing her best to throw herself at him. She'd completely understood just what he was thinking in the way-back-when in their youth. Blargetha had done her best to seduce and romance the fools who'd pined after her sister. Trouble was that she'd had nothing to offer them. She couldn't even formally marry them. Hurletta had to be married _first_. She was ashamed and embarrassed to have had to resort to creating a fake paramour in a bid to try and steal the throne. Now, Hurletta was, strangely enough, closer than ever to having Finn in her bed. Blargetha herself had made that possible.

Trouble was, when Hurletta was Finn's woman, the equation of life for Blargetha would subtly but _drastically_ change. It was one thing to tell one of his vassals 'no'. Hell, he could even tell one of his senior counselors to get stuffed. It was quite another thing to tell the woman he shared his bed with that she couldn't have what she wanted. Hurletta could _demand_ her sister's head, and Finn, who held Blargetha's life in her hands, would be very tempted to comply. The younger sister could very easily find herself staked out in a rain-storm, being murdered to suit her sister's rage. Trouble was, what was she going to do about this? She didn't really have a lot of leverage here. _You need to figure this out,_ she thought. Her life depended on it.

Morning found Billy sitting at the entry to the lizard-folk's rock quarry with Olesia at his side. They'd come up here the previous day and camped out all night, taking watches turn and turn about. Billy had been slowly getting the younger woman to open up about the things she'd seen and done, sharing the ugly experiences he'd had and helping her to confront the unpleasant feelings she still had over the fight in the former Wildberry Kingdom. He thought she would never be the happy-go-lucky girl she'd been before. The world had a way of grinding down the soft layers of youthful optimism for a harder-edged cynicism.

But Olesia was laughing again.

She was laughing and wearing tight clothes and showing off that killer fucking body that she now sported. He was having trouble refraining from commenting on it because it brought back all the raw feelings he'd had towards her. He tried to channel those thoughts, telling her that she ought to be careful, or she might end up burning some poor, thirsty dude who just couldn't help himself. Of course, on her side, Olesia was delighted to see him noticing what was out on display.

"So what's this marvelous idea of yours," she asked? Setting aside his coffee cup, the big man said, "we're going to help them get ahead on their stone quarrying..." It took _weeks_ for the lizard-folk to quarry a decent quantity of stone to build up one building. It took weeks and thousands upon thousands of workers. They worked with treadmills and riding lizards, and hand-built machines that sliced the stone out with copper cutting-wire and grit. Trouble was, it was the dead of winter, and they couldn't get thousands of peeps up here. They couldn't move them. They couldn't keep them fed. They couldn't house them all.

"Learned something when I was trying to get my ass through college, O," Billy said. He'd actually mostly earned a degree at Bonnie's science institute before the world went sideways and his wife tried to murder him. Olesia herself had only barely completed high-school before rushing off on the adventure of a lifetime. As he talked about his efforts to earn an education, Olesia was struck with the sudden realization she'd sort of walked away from hers. She'd been set to start college! It was fascinating to listen to this man as he explained how they could shatter the rock with heat and cold to break free the stone blocks needed to finish the wall down at the sea-shore. Then all Hamest needed was a qualified engineer to draft the plans and lay out how to build it.

"They'd still have to move it," she murmured, though she was becoming more and more comfortable with this. Kneeling at her side, he said, "we can make that happen too, babe..." He sketched out a map of the land around them, showing the mountains and the long slope down to the sea. "All we need is a way to reduce the friction to make the blocks slide," he murmured. "Ice is very good at that." The way he spoke to her–like they were having an intimate conversation did things to her. Her mind went to the sleepers, sitting just now in the bottom of her bag in a tiny steel casket. Any hope that she didn't still feel those things for this man burned away. "C'mon," he said. "Let's get cracking." Shaking off those dangerous thoughts–they had no time for that sort of thing–the plush princess rose with him, saying, "yes, let's..."

Back in the Candy Kingdom, an impromptu family meeting was underway. The ladies of Finn's household had come down to breakfast in the family dining salon in their various states of dress, and Lollipop couldn't help a chuckle looking at some of her fellows. The thought that maybe Finn would have a preference based on seeing them in their less... _put together_ moments had gotten blown away fairly early on for Lollipop. Pretty much none of them looked her best this particular morning.

Bonnie had a crust of dried spit on her right cheek. Betty had lines from her pillow pressed into the left side of her face, while Simone had them on the right. Cherry's eyes were bloodshot, suggesting she was still grinding away at her taxes, well after they were due. Breakfast's smile-wrinkles were showing since she hadn't gotten to put foundation on yet, and Drew's face suggested she'd been crying. A lot. Nadia would have been one of the prizes of the bunch if her hair wasn't askew as if she'd stuck her finger into an outlet. The only person looking anything near _chipper_ was their youngest member. Strudel was in a fantastic mood, munching away at her favorite foods and playing a game on her phone between bites.

"Sarah left this for us," said Lollipop, as she shoved a thick folder across the table. "It's the analysis of Finn's blood. Those words drew everybody's attention instantly. "Let me see that," Bonnie said, as she intercepted the folder. Taking the report, she began thumbing her way through it as the others began piling food on their plates. Mumbling under her breath, the bubblegum princess thumbed through the pages of Sarah's report. In a teasing voice, Nadia asked, "do you even understand what you're reading?" Bonnie stopped in mid-mumble, her face turning bright crimson.

The cyborg princess took the document then and began to read. Indeed, she tore through the pages, dismissing some sections out of hand. The gathering held its collective breath as she approached the end of the folder. "Nothing," Nadia muttered as she slapped the report on the table. Whether it was the violence of that action or the finality of the statement, her audience jumped in startlement.

"Nothing," Nadia repeated. They'd been jumping at shadows. By her calculations, Finn was well-below the number of nano-machines in a cyborg's blood. It stood to reason. Cyborgs had an artificial organ that produced the machines en-masse. The population in Finn's bloodstream was clearly self-replicating, but that was barely enough to sustain the numbers he had. He wasn't _ordinary_, but he wasn't radically different either. "S-so what's wrong with him," blurted Drew? It didn't come out quite right. That wasn't something a doctor articulated. She was supposed to be the one telling _them_ what was going on with their husband.

Cherry laughed. She laughed and laughed. "Ok," muttered Breakfast. "What's so funny?" "You all," chuckled the gangster. Shaking her head in unholy mirth, she said, "you're all acting like our husband has become a monster. What if he's becoming a _man_?" They stared at her. Showing a grin a mile wide, the lord of the underworld asked, "what if Finn Mertens actually _understands_ what it means to be King of Ooo? Hmm? What if _we're_ the dummies, looking for him to still be a randy jackass while the world is burning?" Nodding, Simone murmured, "it fits..." Even at eighteen, Finn had been well aware of the consequences of screwing around. He'd greeted Simone with a nursery before they even knew she was pregnant. He'd built–_rebuilt_–a home where they could raise babies while she was down pregnant with Billy and fighting madness.

Drew babbled, "then he... Why is he... not the same...? Not with us... Not with the kids..." Twirling a lock of her hair around one elegant finger, Cherry retorted, "because he has thirty-four kids when you count the ones he agreed to sire, Drew. He has fifteen wives, and you might as well add five mistresses on the pile. How the _fuck_ is he going to manage all that glorious _mayhem_ if he's flying off the handle all the time? _Somebody_ has to be the adult in the room. Lord knows the pack of us are stirring it up enough." She was staring right at Strudel when she said it. Thumping her hand on the table, the family conscience said, "we need to step up, ladies. The problem isn't _him_, it's _us_."

Nodding, Simone said, "some of us are letting the maids raise our kids. Some of us are clearly more involved in our jobs than in the children we birthed." She mentioned nary a name, but several faces flushed or glanced away. "I'm guilty," Simone murmured. "I let Wizard City take over my life. I... need to change that. I need to find the time to be a mother like I did with Billy and Fionna." "I swear," Lollipop agreed. "I swear," Cherry announced. "Me too," said Betty, followed moments later by Drew. Silence reigned a moment. "Ok," muttered Bonnie. "Better mommy. Got it." "Ok," chuckled Nadia. "I don't have mine," Strudel growled! "It's not fair!" Which set the others to laughing.

Meanwhile, Finn sat on a tall outcropping staring at the distant island that was Rose's home. She'd told him that the land around her domain had been a desert an age ago before the bombs fell. Now her mountain had become an island. She'd wanted nothing more than her endless empty dreams of her past life. The undead were content on their island, and Bandit Princess wanted to stir shit up.

"Marceline once told me about the world she grew up in," Finn murmured. It had been during a lull in the fight against the resurrected Vampire Court. Marceline–and Simon, before he went mad–had lived in a nightmare world of death and starvation where corpses would randomly come back to life sometimes. Sarah's face whipped around. "I...," she started to say. She didn't have memories of that. "She never talked about it with Bonnie," Finn muttered. "Bonnie..." "Didn't have the empathy to understand," Sarah sighed. If the former Vampire Queen had issues with basic humanity, Bonnie had her problems too.

"There were zombies back then," said Finn. "It wasn't like the goo-bros where they'd mostly ignore you if you didn't get too close. These guys would hunt you down... They'd crack your head open if they could and eat your thinkin' meat out of your skull." Sarah blanched. That was every kind of gross. "They didn't have to kill you to kill you," Finn continued. "They could infect you," Sarah agreed, "with the very virus that our friend is looking for." The sex-doll stopped right where she was. "That's it, Finn," she murmured. "That's why they want a _pure_ form of the virus!"

Now it was Finn's turn to frown. That didn't really make sense to him. His eyes said it. You're the brain. Fill me in. "The virus is a living thing, Finn," she said. "Like all living things, it changes over time... It became... less dangerous... The zombies became more passive." The zombies of Rose's kingdom spent most of their time lurking in the shadows of their kingdom, doing nothing more terrible than shuffling about aimlessly. Most of the vast horde that afflicted the world after the apocalypse had rotted away to nothing. The only thing sustaining their numbers were the few fools who still wandered into the kingdom looking for riches. "Which is why just snatching a zombie doesn't fit her needs," Orzsebet rumbled. "I guess you're useful for something more than a walking calculator." Sarah glared at her, as Finn asked, "did you make contact?" "I _did_," replied the spy-girl.

She had the boat lined up. She had fishermen who would be willing to take them to the shore of the island. They'd leave them there, and come back to get them the following morning. "Left on zombie island all night," Sarah muttered. "Lovely." "What're _you_ complaining about," Agent Princess retorted? "You're a machine." "Zombies are gross," Sarah retorted. "Let's get good sleep," Finn interrupted. "We're not going to be sleeping on the island. Sarah? You're least susceptible to fatigue. Why don't you close down for a while...? You know...?" It was the same thing he'd asked Rattleballs to do when he, Huntress, and Rattleballs had gone up against the goo-bros to keep them out of Bonnie's kingdom. At her freshest, the heavy-duty hottie could go for two or three days straight without ill effect. If she could get anything to sustain her systems, she could stretch that to a dozen or more before her organic systems started to fail. "Ok," Sarah sighed.

"Weird," Orzsebet muttered, when the android-woman had closed her eyes. "You're honestly fucking that thing..." It was half a question. Finn gave her a warning look. Sarah was off limits. "Never saw a man in love with a toy," she muttered. In the fresh light of day–with the sun out, Finn had other concerns. Were those bruises? Had this woman been in some kind of fight? His mind wanted to conjure some kind of ugly confrontation to bring him the information that Bandit Princess was raiding Zombie Island. His mind went back to the scars. Orzsebet had lived a hard life.

The King opened his mouth to ask, but Orzsebet got their first, asking, "shouldn't we also be sleeping?" "Shifts," Finn replied. "You first." "Well, then," she replied. Finn drew off his heavy jacket and wrapped her in it, saying, "it's cold. Get some sleep." She stared at him a moment. Whatever she might have said, she choked down on it and lay herself out. Moments later, she was snoring softly. The King of Ooo rose and stood at the edge of the rocks, staring out at the ugliness waiting for them. His mind wanted to conjure images of horrifying undead crawling across that island. Simon had been some kind of crazy to brave the island to steal Rose's leg.

Late that afternoon, Fionna rolled into the headquarters after a day of fruitlessly building and rebuild the reflecting node. She felt all of a fool. She'd done her best to learn what she could from Nadia, but that was starting to seem like too little too late. Maybe if she'd listened more during class at Toffee High, she'd understand better what her stepmom was trying to tell her, but in the right now it seemed like there was no way she was going to duplicate the mechanical marvel Nadia's folk had crafted. While she was standing before the map, wondering if it was too late to maybe dig some trenches or build some kind of wooden wall, shouts from outside announced the return of the patrol that had left that morning. Fionna looked up to see ghost-face coming through the door.

The Warrior Princess was in a blue funke after her excursion to the burgeoning refugee camp on the far side of the barrier. The mood was thick on her–her face closed and looking bleak. Fionna knew instinctively what was ailing her. Indeed, there was confirmation on the faces of every last one of the officers who'd gone with her. The Bad Bunny intercepted her stepmother as the older woman crossed to the 'celebratory cabinet' that she kept in a corner of the headquarters.

With tears clouding Ingrid's eyes, she almost blundered right into Fionna. "Mother," Fionna murmured, as she hugged the older woman. Shocking several of the bystanders, the hard-hearted woman began to cry. She actually began to cry. It was short moments before she was bawling her eyes out–a sight that nobody could ever recall seeing. "Th-they're all _starving_," howled Ingrid! "I... we don't have anything for them, and a baby died right in front of me, and I couldn't help it...!" The King's daughter stood there rocking with her stepmomma, holding on with all her might as the older woman cried and cried.

Fionna had gotten her own dose of this. Ironically, she was a little better prepared for this. Ingrid's world had revolved around burly men and brutal conflicts over power. She'd been forced to develop a hard stone shell around her heart, never letting anybody or anything in. She'd never _met_ the sort of insignificant souls found in that camp. She'd never held a baby until she'd held Fionna's baby brother. But there were things that could get through that stone shell–terrible sights that could penetrate even the hardest of hearts. "We're gonna' fix this, mom," Fionna murmured. "That's what our family does. We fix stuff like this."

Back in the Lizard Kingdom, Billy and Olesia were making very short work of Billy's little project, and the elemental was impressed by the way the whole thing was coming together. The big man had created a _system_ that had made this whole thing so easy, they'd quarried thousands of tons of stone today. Olesia would channel heat into the stone, bringing the stone to a temperature where the face was hot enough that it was dangerous for Billy to touch it. Working with the Tiara, Billy would precisely freeze segments of the hot rock, causing slabs as big as a man to cleave off the side of the mountain.

Billy would then use the powers of the tiara to _float_ the stone slabs on flows of ice and snow down to the massive ice-flume that he'd constructed down to the valley far below. She'd insisted on taking him down on her wolf, refusing to let him use the power of the Tiara to fly. They'd gotten the mass of stone halfway down the mountain. Billy hoped to get it the rest of the way by the end of the week. It wasn't going to build a very big or very thick wall, but they really only needed to extend the wall beyond the surf. Summer would give the Lizards more chances to improve things.

"This is amazing," Olesia opined, as she channeled heat into the last chunk of stone they planned to quarry today. "It's amazing you could think all this up on the spot." "Hardly," Billy replied. "That's my dad's forte. I... I'm a little more methodical." Maybe it was the fact that he'd actually gone to school, where his dad had barely gotten home-schooled before Margaret died. "I missed school," Olesia sighed. "I... sort of feel like I threw it away." Billy said, "there's always time to go back. My mom told me that." Her eyes fell on him, bringing heat to his face. Yeah, all those old feelings were there. If he'd met this girl before all the troubles with JJ and before he'd fallen in with Rags, Abieuwa, and Noemi, things would have been a lot different. "What do elementals like to eat," he asked? "I'm'a... I'm'a buy you a nice dinner when we get back to the world." "Only if I can return the favor," Olesia replied.

As dangerous thoughts filled the two youths' minds, danger of a far different sort was looming on the far side of the world. The King of Ooo sat in a leaky, creaky old boat–the sort of boat that a lot of the old videos from before the bombs said would leave you stranded in a place like Zombie Island. _Rebirth,_ Finn thought, but he wanted nothing to do with the way things got _reborn_ around these parts. "Not much activity," Sarah murmured. "If you're using some kind of electric sight, the zombies won't show up," Orzsebet snorted. "They're dead." Sarah's face snapped around. "No body-heat, babe," Finn agreed. "Switching to low-light," the android muttered. She should have thought of that. With a sigh, she said, "yeah, babe. They're there... They're there, and I think they may be stirred up..."

**Ingrid gets in touch with her motherly feelings, while Billy and Olesia get... touchy feely... The girls learn to appreciate their hubby, and Finn? Well, it appears that things are a lot more ALIVE in Zombie Land than maybe he's going to like.**


	23. Chapter 23

Chapter 23:

The men in the boat were no fools. They wanted nothing to do with getting so close to the shore–especially after hearing that the _things_ there might be stirred up. They insisted on dropping the King and his companions in the shallows and making them _wade_ the rest of the way to shore. Likely they wouldn't bother coming back to retrieve them. Getting _off_ the island was going to be interesting.

Sarah wanted badly to take the lead as Finn led the way up on shore with Orzsebet all but pressed into the back of his suit. That was one funny thing about this mad situation. She wanted to laugh out loud at the deadly Lady of Spies trying to share her hubby's clothes in an effort not to be munched on by zombies. Finn's mind was clear and focused though. It was the eerie serenity of 'new Finn'.

"I come to speak to the Lady of the Island," Finn said. He might have been talking to the air. Orzsebet couldn't see a thing in the darkness. That was part of what made this so terrifying. "Anything," she hissed. "They're all around us," Sarah whispered back. They could get back to the water, but there wasn't anywhere to go after that. The King took a talisman off his neck–a tiny locket and held it out. "The Lady gave me this–in case I ever had to return," said the King. He could feel them moving. "Th-they're... I think they're standing aside, Finn," Sarah burbled. Finn grimly nodded. He knew the way from here, and he set off, half-dragging Orzsebet behind him.

The big man clearly knew the way. With the certainty of a man who'd been someplace before, the King of Ooo went up and down through those nightmare woods. Orzsebet, who'd thought she'd seen ugliness watched her master navigate a hellish landscape that should have left him with nightmares the rest of his days. Finn's face was closed. 'New Finn' was in the house as they walked up to the darkened maw of a cave.

The big man fished out a flashlight, and Sarah was quick to follow suit, with Orzsebet being a beat late. The surfaces around them were hard and showed signs of concrete under the slime and muck. Here and there Orzsebet picked out the rusted remnants of thousand-year-old signs. This place had once been built by the King's remote ancestors, and the Lady of Spies found herself wondering what stories these stones could tell. More to the point, it suggested that her information was correct. There _was_ something here worth stealing for a desperate despot searching for the means to conquer the world.

Just like outside, their leader brought them through the maze of passageways, past darkened entries that stank of decay, and open spaces that held restless, shuffling dead. He led them into a small space that was seeing service as a makeshift bedchamber for a long-dead occupant, though there were signs that it had once been something else. Sarah's keen eyes picked out a light that might once have belonged to a surgical theater in the ceiling overhead. The overgrown, moss-covered ruin in the corner might have been a table for surgical instruments. And was that a _respirator_ in the corner?

Indeed, as the trio approached the master of this ruined land, Sarah's eyes wanted to conjure a gurney. The wheels had long ago rotted to nothing, and the mattress had decayed to dust, but she could see the metal railings that would have secured the patient from falling off. _What _was_ this place,_ she thought? _A hospital?_

"Hey," Finn greeted the dead woman. His tone was tender–like they were lovers. _Finn,_ the specter replied. _I know this is no social call..._ "Yeah, babe," he agreed. "Unwelcome visitors on your island..." The undead paused, and Finn stepped closer. _You shouldn't be here, Finn,_ Rose opined. _My domain is deadly to you..._ "They seek to steal from you," the King said. "I'm here to stop them..." That gave the specter pause, and Orzsebet imagined that thing was _thinking_. Her guess was confirmed as Skeleton Princess announced, _there was a disturbance earlier. It was gone again before I came fully awake._ And then Finn had announced himself.

On his side, Finn frowned in worry. Whoever was here was smart and cagey enough not to go straight for the perceived _treasure_. They were laying low and doing their best not to stir things up _too_ badly. His mind went to the mindless, shambling undead. They were shackled to Rose's will. They became sleepy and listless when she slept. The Skeleton Princess spent more and more time away from the world as the world spun on along its track through time. That mean that people poking around here could more easily slip past the undead and potentially risk unleashing deadly danger on the world. He needed an answer for that.

"Rose," he said. "There are people looking around here for a treasure... I'm afraid they'll bring back something awful to the world of the living. I need you to be on guard." _I'm_ tired_, Finn,_ the undead replied. _I grow weary of the world. I only want to sleep._ Orzsebet found herself muttering curses. This thing wasn't going to be much help to them apparently. She halfway wanted to go searching for the interlopers herself. Only trouble was that she didn't know where to look or what they might even be searching for. "I'm'a let you rest a moment," Finn said, "but we need to talk about this. We need to find an answer before something terrible's let loose on the world..."

Motioning for his companions to follow, the big man stepped off. It had been _decades_ since he'd been in this place, but he knew a space that was relatively safe. There was a room near Rose's lying bed that had caved in and was open to the sky. He and Jake had stayed the night there when they brought Rose's leg back the time Ice King stole it. Taking the turns as one who knew them, the big man led the way past spaces that reminded Sarah of home, strangely enough, finally bringing them out into a half-submerged room that was open to the air above them.

Setting his pack down on a moss-covered cement table, the big man opened it up, spreading the flap out to make a rude table-cloth. On top of that, he set his water-bottle. Sarah shivered. Everything was dangerous here for a creature of flesh and blood. Who knew where the deadly virus could be lurking? Finn was right, it was deadly for _anybody_ to come to this place. Much like the Wishmaster's Maze, this was a place best forgotten.

Careful of the risk, the cyborg hottie squatted near him, setting her bag next to his on the table. Finn himself had begun to pace, his manic energy showing his worry. A lifetime ago, he'd thought of zombies as a joke. He'd splattered some way back in the day, smashing them to nothing. He'd stopped thinking of this as a big joke when he'd come back from Rose's domain the first time.

"What is this place," Orzsebet asked? It was obviously manmade. Under the growth of filth and moss were concrete walls. "It looks like a lab of some kind," Sarah burbled. Finn, who'd never noticed the uncanny similarities between Rose's home and Bonnie's lab now saw things with new eyes. "This is where they made it," the King muttered. "Made what," demanded Orzsebet? "The zombie virus," Sarah whispered. Finn was right. He was oh-so right. The containments, the secure rooms, the decontamination chambers... Only labs working on really dangerous things needed such precautions.

"The precautions failed obviously," murmured a clearly frightened Agent Princess, "but is there anything of value left?" The laboratory was in ruins and had been for a thousand years. Any equipment or samples would long ago have rotted away. This gambit made no sense if there was nothing here to take. That question had been puzzling Sarah too, and she found herself glancing to her very-agitated husband. Finn was more worked up than she'd seen him in quite a long while. Either his fear of this place was strong enough to work through all the neurochemical changes from the nanites... _Or the nanites have given him so much clarity of thought that he sees danger that he wouldn't have seen before this,_ thought Sarah.

Either way, there was little to be done right now. The King pulled a folding cot from his pack and stretched it out. Orzsebet goggled at that. Drawing a straw from a plastic wrapper, the King tucked it into the tip of the water bottle. Fitting the straw to the side of his mask, the big man drank deep. Tossing the straw away, he pulled another straw and handed it to Orzsebet. The Lady of Spies sighed. It was going to be a very long night. How was she going to take a _piss_ if she needed to?!

"Where am I going to sleep," she muttered, as she handed the bottle back? "The cot," Finn replied. She gave him a strange look. "We're not all going to fit on that cot," she said. "I can lock my knees in this position," Sarah replied. "I can squat here all night if I have to. You and Finn can take turns on the cot." The Lady of Spies stared at the cot, her mind going to the thousand terrors around them. She had a fear of waking up dead with one of those things munching on her skull. At the same time... she was exhausted. She wanted nothing more than to sleep. She wanted to sleep a long, _long_ time.

The King's eyes were on hers when she looked up. "Ok," she muttered, as she lay herself down–her feet hanging off the edge. Unsurprisingly, it didn't take long at all before she was gone. For Finn, it was back to pacing. His overwrought mind wouldn't let him sleep. Sarah could vaguely see the undead wandering around above them on the rim of the forgotten lab. "They're not good climbers, babe," Finn muttered. "She locked the thought out of their minds centuries ago because they kept falling to their destruction."

"This place," Sarah murmured. "It's... I think you're right, Finn. This... It looks like a military lab–like the kind of place you..." "...make terrible things," Finn agreed. And Rose had been right there in the mix–maybe even leading the charge. At the same time, so what? What did it matter? Those events were a thousand years ago. Any crimes she'd been guilty of were centuries in the past. What worried him more was the risk of their being hidden stores of the deadly virus that had spawned the Skeleton Princess.

As Sarah watched their surroundings, and listened, the King of Ooo laid out his fears and bounced ideas off of her. He wanted to search the forgotten halls of the lab. Maybe there was an old computer that Sarah could pull something off of. Bonnie had once said that sometimes old electronics could still be made to work. She'd had great success building from scavenged parts. "It's worth a try, Finn," Sarah agreed. He was still pacing and clearly still worried. She would have made him got to sleep if she thought he would listen. The light of false-dawn at the rim of the pit suggested that it would soon not matter. They would have light to search, and there would be little sense in waiting then.

"Patient Zero."

The words came from out of the blue. Finn was moving almost as soon as the words left his mouth. He'd heard that phrase a lot when Bonnie, Sarah, and Nadia were grinding on the problem of Wildberry's 'meatheads'. He'd finally insisted someone tell him what a 'patient zero' was. The answer had been meaningless science-drivel. Until now. In the space of a breath, the big man tore out of there, blipping himself down the corridor with the power of the Quicksilver Curse. Sarah immediately started snatching up their gear as if for a hasty departure, waking Orzsebet in the process. Seeing Finn gone and the android frantically packing, the Lady of Spies demanded an explanation.

"_Rose_ is Patient Zero," Sarah explained, as she shoved Agent Princess's bag at her. Skeleton Princess had been the target all along. She was the sole remaining original undead. Judging by the place she chose to make her bed, she might well have been the first infected victim of the plague. There was a grave risk that the plague still lived on in the marrow of her mouldering bones. As soon as she had Finn's gear packed, Sarah grabbed the Agent Princess by the scruff and rushed after her husband.

Finn, meanwhile, had arrived in Skeleton Princess's sanctum to find her laying in repose on her bed, but something was wrong. Her leg–the same one Simon had stolen–was missing. The undead woman sat up at the feel of her locket. _F-finn,_ she greeted him. Her mental voice sounded strained. _My leg..._ "On it," Finn growled. "I'll get it back." He was exiting the room as Sarah came running up with Orzsebet in her arms. "Need your sight, babe," Finn said. The thieves weren't undead. They would have left some very warm footprints. "Switching," Sarah murmured. Her eyes scanned the ground.

There were a fair number of tracks, but it was easy to pick out the right ones as those tiny feet belonged on Orzsebet rather than one of the thieves. "This way," said the heavy-duty hottie. The trio headed up and out of the cavernous former laboratory, finding their way through a shattered wall and out into the cold light of early morning. "Anything," Finn growled? It was daylight. He wasn't sure if Sarah's ability to see the heat in things would work. "Almost at thermal crossover," Sarah muttered. "Give me a moment..." The android scanned her pretty face back and forth, her blue eyes going over the same patch of ground outside the lab over and over again. "There," she said. "That way."

The sex-droid led the way, as the group took the twists and turns of the forest. The undead were stirred up, but not nearly as terrifying as Orzsebet had been lead to believe. "Rose has been growing weaker for years," Finn muttered. The Skeleton Princess hadn't bothered to attend Bonnie's annual princess-meeting in thirty years. She spent far more time sleeping than anything else, and when she was asleep, the zombies were practically blocks of wood. It was one of the reasons Finn had taken the Agent Princess's warning so seriously. Of all the people on Ooo, he was probably the only person outside of Jake to know just what things were like here.

Over and around the hills and trails of Zombie Island the android-girl led them. Orzsebet was shocked to find that a man who was close to her own age had no trouble keeping up with the brutal pace. She found herself begging for rest–rest Finn had no time to give her. It felt as though she'd be run until her heart burst–that she'd be left for dead on this island. Finally, Sarah Mertens stopped stock still, her ears twitching. "I hear it too," Finn muttered, as she turned to him to speak. In the blink of an eye he was gone.

"Hey," Finn greeted the thieves. He'd appeared out of nowhere, directly in their path. Leveling his rifle, the big one on the left growled, "who the fuck are you?" "Me," Finn replied? "Nobody special. You guys? You're sick fucks who'd risk every life in the world for greed." "Fuck you, man," growled one of the bandits. There was clear fear in their eyes, though. Where had this guy come from? There shouldn't be anybody else here. The locals were terrified of this place.

"Get lost, before I lose my temper," growled the big fellow. He leveled his rifle at Finn–who was suddenly two feet to the right. Holding up the strange talisman that Rose gave him, the King of Ooo announced, "I want you to understand what you tried to do. You won't be leaving here with that, but I want you to feel just what it was that your bosses were going to do to the good people of this world." Zombies began to come shuffling out of the forest around them. The leader–the _mouth_–leveled his rifle and opened fire on the nearest. The steel dart tore through the dead flesh like a nail through rotten wood, but the thing kept coming. The men began to fire wildly now, as the zombies closed in on them. They were shockingly fast to say they were little more than rotten meat.

It began when the first of the undead reached his living victim. Grasping the man's face in its shockingly powerful hands, the zombie applied pressure. The hapless victim screamed as the pressure built–even as he tried to pull away from the awful creature. As Finn watched impassively, the bandit's skull cracked, killing him instantly. The dead began immediately to feast on the exposed grey-matter. A second zombie snatched the rifle from a second raider, hurling it away as he bit into the man's tender arm, lacerating the muscle down deep to the bone as his victim screamed. _Two_ zombies converged on the leader, as he fired wildly at them backpedaling as he did so.

Sarah and Orzsebet arrived just as the zombies opened the lead bandit's skull and began scooping out brain tissue. The Lady of Spies immediately turned and began emptying her stomach. Sarah turned her face away. She couldn't watch this. She couldn't imagine how Finn could simply watch this. "I'm fighting with hate," he said, but she wasn't sure if he meant his own or the Bandit Princess's hatred.

Shaking off the ugly feeling afflicting him, Finn turned to the clear waters just within sight beyond the trees. Walking forward, the big man stepped out onto the beach and knelt at the water's edge. Softly, he said, "Talia, I need a favor..." Nothing happened, though ironically Sarah held her breath. Taking a breath, the King stretched his left hand down into the water. "T," he said. "I know you're there. I need you, babe." To Orzsebet, the whole business was bizarre–at least until a waterspout shot skyward from the shallows, and a naked woman stepped out of it, carrying a small bag.

"Pfaa, gigolo," spat Baba Yaga, as she stared at their ugly surroundings! "Where the hell did you call me?" Solemnly, he said, "called you to prevent a tragedy, T." Gesturing, he said, "welcome to Zombie Island." The witch shivered. "Vozrozhdeniya Island," she howled?! "Why the fuck did you call me to this awful place?!" "The Bandit Princess tried to steal Skeleton Princess's leg," Finn said. The pretty woman gave him a queer look. "Seriously," she burbled? It would have sounded absurd to Sarah if it wasn't so serious.

The android-girl nodded, "Rose is Patient Zero for the Zombie Plague, Your Highness." "Rosalina Timoshenko," the rusalka muttered. Wearing a frown, Sarah asked, "you know her?" "Protested outside the State Science Board over her," Talia replied. "She was like your creator, mashina-devushka. Fucking around with things best left undisturbed." Nodding in the direction of the lab, Baba Yaga added, "she was dragged in front of the State Duma twice for deadly accidents at this very lab. I guess this one got her too..."

"She's still a carrier, T," Finn murmured. "Until she's gone." Every one of those pretty faces was staring at him now. "I aim to build a wall, T," he said. "Rose... is going to be gone..." She was literally rotting away as they spoke. She would be dust some day, and the virus would be gone with her. The thought astonished Talia. At the same time, what he said made sense. "Alright, gigolo," she said. "I think we can do this. Let's go."

The King wanted to go in and make sure Rose understood what he was trying to do. She sat up the minute she felt them enter the room, and her 'eyes' locked with Talia's. They'd met once, lifetimes ago. It was clear that both women remembered. "Fucked up, eh," Talia chuckled. Finn glared at her. Moving to Rose's side, he handed her the leg that had been stolen. "I got it back," he said. "I'm sorry. I'm sorry somebody did this to you." The grateful creature gave him the strange googly-eyed smile that she'd given him in the past, as she fit the leg against her stump. "Rest," said Finn. "I'm'a make sure nobody bothers you again..." He was going to build a wall. He was going to wall the world out of her space. _Thanks,_ she offered. _Go._

Rising, Finn turned and swiftly rejoined his strange friend, motioning for her to precede him out the door. Though she held her peace–likely out of fear of a fight–the rusalka barely waited until they were outside before lighting into him. "Why do you care about _her_," Baba Yaga demanded? "She would have been a mass murderer if she'd finished her plague-bombs..." "I think she _paid_ for her choices, T," Finn replied. "Just like the two of us." The words were mild, but the rebuke had an outsized impact on the witch's demeanor. "What's the plan," Talia muttered?

The big man reached into a pocket and drew out a small object, holding it up before her eyes. It was a strange, reddish-green seed. Her mind went to the awful _thing_ that had masqueraded as his arm. The _other_ curse. It was one of those humbling moments. He was bowed down by the weight of the world, but he still stooped to offer comfort and _mercy_ to the sinners–acknowledging their sins but offering them forgiveness and atonement for their crimes. Talia took the seed from his hand. Kneeling on the ground, she carefully buried it in the soft loam of the island, breathing life into it as she did. Standing again, she took his hands, saying, "follow along, gigolo. This is dangerous, so don't fuck up."

Out on the beach, Orzsebet was pacing back and forth and staring at the interior of the island–and the masses of shiftless, restless dead padding back and forth. Sarah's face snapped up, and she grabbed the ornery wench and pulled her out into the shallow waters. Orzsebet cursed her, but Sarah shushed the ornery bitch, as she pointed to the shimmery field of energy that had sprung up on the margins of the island. "Time dilation," she whispered. Emeraude had described this to her. Talia had risked everything _twice_ to touch the Quicksilver Curse during the war with the Dipped. Now she was doing it again.

Out of that shimmering light, Talia and Finn strode, hand in hand. "W-what did you do," Sarah asked? "Entombed her," Talia replied, mildly. Nodding at Finn, she added, "the gigolo's idea." They'd planted one of Sybil's demon-seeds in the fertile soil around the old laboratory. Talia had accelerated its growth until it had consumed the laboratory. Nothing and no-one could reach Rose now. They'd left the remaining zombies in place to further discourage visitation. In another hundred years or so, this place would be empty once more. "Let's get back to shore," Talia muttered. "You owe me dinner."

It took the better part of an hour to locate the boat the raiding party had come in. Minutes later, they were sailing across the vast lake. Sitting in the prow of the boat, singing in her haunting voice, the witch was in a fine mood. "My people took down the dams when the humans were all gone," she said. "The great lake refilled." It was out of the blue, but it filled in some blanks Finn had. Rose's memories of the place were of a great desert around her lair. It had been gone when she woke up from her long sleep.

"One done, gigolo," Talia remarked. At his puzzled frown, the rusalka said, "she's not alone in carrying a burden, Finn. We need to think about the others and how to rid the world of past mistakes..." Finn's mind went to the toxic soup under Bonnie's palace and the bunker in Abieuwa's kingdom. "Yeah," he said. "I just need the world to stop spinning for a couple weeks."

The sun was setting as Finn tied the boat off at a little fishing village across the lake from the haunted island late that day. As the quartet exited the boat, the King of Ooo graciously stopped and held out his coat. To Orzsebet, he said, "panties. Hand 'em over..." Muttering curses, the Lady of Spies went in her bag and dragged out one of the two pair she had. Sarah contributed a bra, and that–and Finn's jacket–was enough to clothe the witch until their ride could come and get them. Strangers stared at them as they went up to the small café that served the catch of the day. Sitting under the fading sunlight, munching on fried carp, the King turned to his strange friend and offered an ernest, "thanks, T. I'm in your debt." Baba Yaga retorted, "you haven't paid off the last one, gigolo, but I'm working up a list of things you can do around my flat."

Back in the civilized Kingdoms, a very unhappy Kim Kil Wan sat staring at his cold soup and his even colder dinner companion. He looked so _cute_ when he was frothing at the mouth in rage. Chelsea pat the dog-icorn on the cheek–subtly reminding him of their _last_ encounter. "I need that ship in Jungle Kingdom by end of the week," she said in a weird, childish voice. "You can make that happen, right? There's a nice big cargo there. They take it over the ocean to Coca Kingdom, ok? _Ok...?_" "Ok," Kim muttered. "I got a cargo waiting there to come back," said Chelsea. "When do I see Bronwyn," Kim rumbled? Casually reaching into her purse, the Wax Hustler tossed a severed ear into his soup-bowl. "You don't," she answered. "If my guys see another twerp like this sniffing around, you may never see her again..."

Kim very nearly hurled. Chelsea murmured, "obey. I might reward you. Disobey, and Barry's fate will seem like a heavenly reward..." The dog-icorn began to tremble. It was true. Her henchmen had butchered poor Barry. He'd sent Vivi's husband to his death, and now Bronwyn was at risk too. "I... What am I supposed to tell my wife," Kim rumbled? "Good question," Chelsea answered, as she spooned up soup. "You're good at lieing to her. I'm sure you'll come up with _something_."

**Well, hopefully that was creepy enough for an island full of zombies. Aaannd we see a darker side of Finn.**


	24. Chapter 24

Chapter 24:

It was a much more pleasant return than the King's last trip abroad. The airship came hovering in for a landing, finally rolling to a stop with the disembarkation ramp already down. The trio of passengers was there in containment suits–just in case. Dr. Drusilla Princess-Mertens was waiting on them with her staff, dressed similarly. She wanted to touch her husband–to _feel_ that he was ok. At the same time, this was business. Their love was a business, just like being a doctor. Dispensing orders, the pretty doctor got the trio off the airship and into a sealed van for the ride out to Candy Sanitarium.

The staff was waiting with full containment procedures when the van rolled up. All three Royals were hustled out of the van and into a secure wing of the facility. The worst of the worst were here. There were the criminally insane. There were the few violent remnants of Wildberry's madness plague–incurable 'meatheads' for whom the cure had failed. And there were a few examples of mystery maladies that none of Drew's colleagues understood. The trick, of course, was making sure her husband didn't become one of them.

The three patients were brought into the triage room and stripped naked. They were scrubbed down, with the doctors documenting every mark and blemish on their skins with not even Sarah getting a free pass. Sample after sample of blood and other bodily fluids got taken such that it felt to Finn that he was a pin-cushion. He took the whole business without complaint. Those samples got rushed away to the labs, while the trio got shipped to isolated rooms for their own safety.

Hours later, Drew sat down in front of the window before her husband, having shed her containment suit. "Hey," he greeted the tall doctor. "Finn," she murmured, her hand reflexively reaching up to the window. The big man placed his own hand there. "Not the first time you've seen me like this, huh," he asked? "For a good cause, honey," she replied. "How did things go?" "We found the men who were trying to get their hands on the virus," Finn rumbled. "I stopped them. I put Rose out of reach. Permanently." Drew remained calm as he talked about using a demon-seed and Quicksilver Curse to grow a living wall around the ancient laboratory that had spawned the zombie virus, transforming it into a tomb. He'd saved the world. Again.

Moving on, Drew said, "Van's been asking after you. I told him daddy would be back soon." The kids were crankier when he wasn't there to read to them or sing to them, although strangely Nadezhda–or rather Baba Yaga–had been taking some of the slack there. The witch's singing to her grand-niece would draw their toddlers from across the nursery. Finn chuckled. Talia did her best to be cunty, but there was a soft spot under her hard exterior. "I love you," she murmured. "I love you," Finn replied.

Taking a deep breath, the tall doctor said, "there's something going on with Orzsebet, Finn." The big man frowned at her. "Not like that," Drew replied. "She's not showing signs of sickness. This... I think this came before she went out to Zombie Island with you." There were bruises and wounds all over her body. "I think she's been tortured," Drew murmured. The big man took a deep breath and let it go, and his face closed to her as he became that cold 'other' that she'd come to hate. "You need to process this," she sighed. "Ok. Be careful. Something's going on there." The big man nodded. He'd look into it. "Give the kids my love," he said. Blowing him a kiss, the tall woman got up to go.

As Finn settled in with his artificial arm and a selection of puzzles to test himself, far to the east, Billy strode into Hamest's small dining salon to find the Lizard Princess waiting alongside Olesia. "What did they want," asked his girlfriend? "Gotta' go home, babe," Billy muttered. His dad was in the iso-lab. For the next week. It was a just in case, but it left Finn out of action. Billy would have to be surrogate for a while. Hamest's disappointment was plain on her face, and the big man moved swiftly to deflect her from a meltdown. "Lina's coming out with some stuff to build more permanent versions of her fly-swatters," Billy said. In soothing tones, he said, "everything's going to be ok. It shouldn't take me long at all to get back here if I need to."

It was clear to Olesia that there were no other choices on offer here. Much as the King of Ooo cared about this woman and her people, it was clear that there were politics at play here. When the cat was away, the mice got up to mischief and lit the house on fire. They could afford no more of that idiocy, and honestly Olesia herself trusted none of the Inner Council to keep the whole business in check. She saw it as one who was both an insider and an outsider. She was a princess, but so far down the list that she might as well have been invisible.

Before his untimely death, her father had sat her down and leveled with her, making it clear what her destiny was going to be. Her brothers, having been born first, were both closer to the throne and destined to inherit the majority of the family's wealth and power. Olesia and her sister were going to get very little. They were going to be fending for themselves. Moving in the circles of power that Billy lived in, Olesia had been shocked to see how little real training her supposed _betters_ had gotten, with many of her class being little better than mopheads–useless for most anything save stirring up trouble.

At the same time, she understood the Lizard Princess's angst. These people were vulnerable. They were decent fighters, but they'd never faced anything like _this_ before. There was no one kingdom able to handle this on their own. There was a reason Billy's father had placed his famous wall where he had. The Kingdoms with the most resources were in the worst shape, right now. They'd given all they had in the Lich war, and all but bankrupted themselves in the war against Wildberry and the Dipped. _There's other resources,_ she thought. _Private resources._

Lina Yuvchenko arrived with a small group of her fellows in the early morning hours, prompting Billy and Olesia to climb out of bed to go down and meet her. They found the sexy cyborg standing at the ramp of her airship, supervising as a pack of unhappy lizard folk braved the chill to unload the flying machine's cavernous hold. Heedful of just how miserable the lizards were, Olesia moved in and placed herself at the bottom of the ramp, even shedding her wrap, giving the workers something to help them stay warm in the cold. Unlike Billy, Lina had seen Olesia a couple of times since she'd gone away to war. She wholeheartedly approved of the changes. As the workers hauled machines and materials, the two chatted like the best friends they'd become. In between catching up, the three friends talked through what was going on and what they'd seen here.

Lina had a crate full of electronics to rebuild the two fly-swatters in a more durable configuration. She'd also brought tools and equipment to survey the site of the new walls. She planned to search down through the sand to find firmer ground and put together a plan for the engineers coming to help. It was all very good news. It was so good, in fact, that both Billy and Olesia dropped going back to bed in favor of helping the cyborgs get settled in.

The Lizard-Princess herself climbed out of bed just past dawn to find no boyfriend in sight and her maids packing her things. It was a jarring wake-up call for a distraught mind. In a bit of a panic, she rushed to take a shower, shrieking from the icy-cold water. Then she hurriedly dressed and rushed down to the grand hall, arriving to find a half-dozen cyborgs setting up shop there. Adding to her fear, Billy was nowhere in sight, though the little elemental bitch was in the middle of the hall talking on the phone with _someone_.

Lina glanced up from her work to find the Lizard Princess standing just inside the door of the hall, looking like a woman in distress. She'd clearly just rolled out of bed, thrown on some clothes, and rushed down here without having had a chance to put on even a hint of makeup. The sexy cyborg found herself tempted to get up and talk to the woman, because she could _see_ the distress from here. The reason was obvious. She was losing more than just her boyfriend. She was losing her defenses and maybe even her kingdom.

Putting aside the circuit-board she'd been running diagnostics on, the tall woman rose to go and speak to her host, but, momentarily Hamest's distress was the least interesting thing going on in the hall. As Olesia hung up the phone from her mysterious conversation, a burst of flame in the fireplace sent lizard-folk scrambling, and to Lina's surprise, an elemental came striding out of the conflagration.

_She_ was a younger, thinner version of Olesia with a youthful face suggesting that she was a young teen. _Still with the tits, though,_ thought Lina, as she eyed the midriff-bearing top the girl wore. That girl was built like a brick shit-house with knockers that gave Lina a run for her money. Rolling her eyes, Olesia greeted the younger woman with, "thanks for scaring the locals, Marysia..." Hips wig-wagging sensuously in hip-hugging pantaloons, the younger sister, for such she clearly was, strode up to the elder sister and looked her up and down. "What," Olesia rumbled? "You been dieting, sister," burbled the young teen? "I've been _working_," Olesia retorted, though that was clearly a sore point for the plump girl. Lina already didn't like this little bitch. She was _proud_ of Olesia for taking better care of herself.

Fluffing her long, burning hair, the young girl scanned the scene with the expression of a woman looking for trouble. That was when Billy strode into view through one of the side entrances. Spying the newcomer, he announced, "I'd heard an elemental showed up. Olesia, who's your friend?" Stepping past her older sister, the young woman announced, "it's Marysia. I'm _princess_ Marysia Okonski, twenty-first in line for the Red Throne." Lina rolled her eyes. What was it about airheads with a title? The only woman Lina had ever seen who didn't play that game was Olesia herself. It was another strike against this little cunt. "My sister, William," Olesia explained. "I asked her to come and help out." "About that," Marysia interrupted. "Our agreement... When do I get it..." Rolling her eyes, Olesia muttered, "you know I'm good for it, Masia." "Of course, of course," the young girl said, as she studied William Mertens.

Turning to Billy, Olesia said, "I asked my sister to... look after things while we're out. She's going to do a little patrolling... That kind of thing... Then, if it comes down to it, she can back Lina up." Frowning, Billy murmured, "that's kind of dangerous, O... Does she know what she's getting into...?" Reaching out to the tall man and almost-but-not-quite touching him, the flirtatious little bitch said, "oh, but of course, big sister told me all about your little problems... I'm sure it'll be ok. Those nasty men don't have a chance..." Far from being enticed by the flirty little bitch, Billy was immediately irritated. It was a strange pattern of behavior for a man who clearly liked sex and pretty women. "It isn't a game, your highness," growled the Ice Prince. The young woman snatched her hand back as if she herself had gotten burned, and Lina imagined she'd felt the preternatural cold that tended to seep out of William when he was angry.

Striding past her, the big man said, "ok, Lina. We've gotta' go. The ship's here. You got this, babe?" "We'll be fine, Bill," Lina replied. "I can hold off whatever they've got out there for at least a couple of days... long enough for you to get back here. If I can get _her_ to cooperate, maybe longer." "Thanks," Billy said, as he hugged his friend. "I'll give Leo your love." Heading over to the door, he picked up Hamest's and Olesia's bags and walked out. "Stay out of trouble, Masia," Olesia said. "Listen to Lina..." Then she too turned to go. The young teen watched her sister go, and it was almost as though she was counting. "Alright," announced Marysia Okonski. "I guess I'm in charge..." Lina howled laughter. It was going to be an interesting stay!

Far to the west, Chelsea the Wax Hustler stepped off her airship into the sweltering heat of a summer night in the southern hemisphere. She'd left the relatively gentle winter of Ooo's north only a day ago, and the difference was something of a shock. It reminded her of the nightmare–of being burned alive like her brother for the entertainment of Bonnibel Bubblegum. "Well, look who just turned up," announced Peihong. The Bandit Princess was in quite the mood. Dressed in a short skirt and midriff bearing top that showed off her much-heavier bosom, the ogress came sauntering up to her partner wearing a smile that suggested life was going well.

"You're in something of a mood," muttered Chelsea. "I have my rockets," the evil ogress retorted, as she gestured at the ancient facility around them. Blanca the Coca Princess was fixated on the west-coast of her land, where their agents were feverishly stealing the harvest and converting it into weapon-grade intoxicants that could be used against the people of Ooo. Peihong's agents were spreading rumors and misinformation pointing the finger squarely northwards–at the territories of Tequila and Deer Princess. Blanca was now almost ready to go to _war_ against her neighbors over her sacred coca-leaves. Meanwhile, Peihong was _here_, just miles from Blanca's capitol, making use of the ancient rocket-base that Blanca's people were supposed to be guarding.

Motioning for the ornery witch to come along, the ogress set off, walking down through the ruins of the facility. As they walked, she pointed out things that had lain dormant under the vastness of the southern jungles. Steel and concrete structures that had lain under a preserving layer of filth and earth and forest had been cleared off. Some of their kidnaped eggheads had certified the safety of the structures. Other had been forced to stabilize buildings that had been undermined by the centuries of neglect. A weapon was slowly taking shape here under the noses of the people intended to safeguard it.

"Question is, when do my rockets start to arrive, Chelse," Peihong growled? "The first shipment of structures is on the way," Chelsea retorted. "I'm good for it, Peihong. I sent you the receipts from the guys in Jungle Kingdom." The unwitting fools in Jungle Kingdom had used their death-metal-powered forges to hammer out the steel tubes needed to make the rockets the slime-bitch had designed. They thought they were making sewer pipes for some grand project in the north. Chelsea had told them that Kim Kil Wan's company was building a massive system of irrigation pipes to 'cure' the burned lands in the east.

Even though she was doing her part to make it happen, Chelsea was a little uneasy about this whole idea. That nasty snot-ball had been insistent that she needed more time to refine her ideas, but they'd lost control of her before that business got done. Peihong had insisted on moving forward with the rockets by simply making them bigger. She'd had their captured eggheads make them wider and taller. Having lived around airships all her life, Chelsea was less certain about the idea. Rarely did making something bigger and heavier work for an airship.

"The men you brought me are working on scaling the engines up," Peihong continued. "I've got a line on a source for the refined alcohol to power them." She was putting a severe dent in the liquor trade in Tequila Kingdom, and she'd had to switch over to buying rum from that cunt, Pirate Princess. Neither of those two bitches had any idea she was doing anything other than throwing a massive party. "I need that wax you promised," grumbled the tall woman. That was where things were now between them. Peihong was moving forward with her ideas with a single-minded devotion–damn anything in her way. The world around her was just a vast field of resources to fuel her dream of conquest. She would burn anything–or any_one_–standing in her way.

"Where the fuck am I supposed to get ten-thousand tons of wax," Chelsa snapped. "You wax-folk have a fucking ocean of it on your island," Peihong retorted. Wax sculptures and alchemical creatures made of wax were the center of life on the Island of the Wax Hustlers. She needed the wax for the other rocket-engine that she wanted to try. One of her captives had brought her an idea for a rocket-motor made like a candle–with a long, stick of burning wax in a tube. He'd glimpsed it in an ancient book in Bonnie Bubblegum's science academy. Wax was a lot more innocuous than oceans of alcohol, especially when her partner's people traded in wax.

"I'll see what I can do," muttered Chelsea. "Why did you call me here?" "To show you our progress," the ogress retorted. "And to warn you off of pushing too hard." Chelsea stopped where she was and turned to her partner, and it was clear she was about to go shrill. Calmly, Peihong said, "we're making progress, Chelse. "The King of Ooo is chasing shadows in the east. His fucking cunt of a general is tied down at the open border, and I've got men making sure that his nasty fucking daughter never has a chance to finish that barrier. We're going to keep them terrified of shutting the wall down long enough to finish the last few miles of it."

She had dumped the problem of feeding her unwilling army on _Finn the Human_. Now _his_ people were tied up and occupied taking care of _her_ army. He had to feed them, and he had to simultaneously deal with the acts of violence and sabotage they committed. She still had his son tied down and committed to business in the Lizard Kingdom, chasing after a phantom army that didn't really exist, and while the expedition to steal the Zombie Virus had been a failure, it had accidentally born fruit in keeping the King himself tied down. They were _winning_. "And striking at his family risks fucking up all the progress, Chelse," Peihong muttered. "Lay low. Don't fuck this up."

"He's not going to be tied up in that fucking isolation ward for long, Peihong," muttered the wax-hustler. Taking her _colleague_ by the arm, the tall woman said, "he doesn't _have_ to be, Chelse. I have something else planned to keep him busy... something that strikes at the core of who he is as a _man_." She had the capacity to threaten something–some_one_ he loved. The King of Ooo would have no _choice_ but to respond, keeping him tied up indefinitely.

As the two continued their tour of their new weapon, in the Candy Kingdom, their foe was huddled over a puzzle, slowly putting it together for the twentieth time. This was the most intricate of the puzzles, and he was slowly mastering it, forcing his mechanical arm to cooperate. The sound of the door opening in the outer room announced he had a visitor. The big man put the puzzle aside and walked over to the window to find Hurletta coming towards him. "Hey," he greeted her, as he sat down. "Hi," she replied, as she put her hand to the window. It said something about the toll this was taking. They all did that. Six visits and six women reaching out to touch a man who was on the other side of a glass window three inches thick. It was moments like these that he most felt like a fuck-up.

Resting his palm over 'Letta's, the big man asked, "how did your session go?" "It was good," she replied. Finn was a little startled to realize that she was wearing something new today. Today's gown was something tight and hip-hugging with a cleavage-window like Blargetha was accustomed to wearing. His mind couldn't help but think that the session had gone well indeed if she was wearing that. "Came to talk about Lollipop's spending," she said. Resting her hands on the table before the window, the plump woman said, "she won't tell me what she's working on, but it's draining the treasury at a precipitous rate... that is... she's spending a lot." "Don't dumb it down for me, 'Letta," he admonished her. "Habit," she chuckled. "You were a dummy for a lot of years, dear." He knew.

Sitting back in his chair, he said, "the project I have Lollipop working is important, 'Letta. It's one of the most important things in the world right now. Bear with me. I'll... I hope to be able to tell you what it is soon, ok?" Hurletta sighed. She didn't like all the secrecy. She burned to know what he was doing. At the same time, there were other things she wanted to talk about. "I'd... like you to go dancing with me...," she said. "When you get out of there." "Love to," he agreed.

Her eyes said that there were other things she wanted to say. Her lips were parted in the manner of someone who has words on the tip of their tongue. Leaning forward, he put his hand back on the glass and said, "it's ok... I know this isn't a great place, but you can say whatever you want to say, 'Letta." Resting her hand over his, she agreed, "I know. We'll talk when you're out of there. Rest well, my King. Know that we're handling things while you're... _occupied_. Billy'll be here late today to keep our treacherous bitches in check." Gathering herself to her feet, the plump woman asked, "do you like my dress?" "You look lovely," Finn replied. The way he said that brought a flush to her face. Wearing a sunny smile, the plump woman turned and got on her way, round ass wig-wagging with every step. At the door, she glanced back and gave him another sunny smile before disappearing from view.

**Death rockets taking shape, the Finn Crew running around like crazy, and Finn out of commission for the week. The war for Ooo's destiny is heating up.**


	25. Chapter 25

Chapter 25:

"I agree that the situation at the border is critical, Your Highness," Billy announced. "What I don't agree with is the idea of moving troops en-masse to the gap. Our foe is cunning. We lose our ability to respond to emerging threats if we take your approach." It was another _painful_ day on the wall for Billy. They were three days in, and these nasty bitches were driving him up the wall. Like spoiled brats, they were always pushing, demanding things that risked disaster for the empire. Billy was cast in the unhappy role of the man who said 'no'. The latest idiocy was their attempts to _help_ Ingrid by sending the entire army to one place. Because there was no way for _that_ to end badly.

He did _not_ want this job.

The young hero could scarcely understand why _Bandit Princess_ wanted the job. The only thing he could think of was the little heart-to-heart his dad had with the kids when they came of age. A kid was a Big Deal. Being entrusted to take care of one by the universe was a _very_ big deal. The cool parents–dudes like Simon–could make it look like cake. _But kids aren't a cat,_ Billy thought.

Trouble was, a lot of young peeps didn't understand that. They saw how cool it looked to have some rugrats, and they jumped right in, usually messing up those kids' lives. _Only Bandit Princess is _worse_ even than that,_ he thought. She was the sort of parent who put her kids on the street to beg while she took the money. Having come to know just how hard it was to manage, much less _control_, kids–both young and adult–Billy had a piece of advice for her. Bitch, get a _cat_.

Forcing the irritation off his face and out of his voice, the big man said, "I'm willing to entertain useful ideas about what to do with the border crisis. I will listen to anything that's presented. As long as those ideas do not compromise our ability to respond to additional crises. We are spread thin. We do not have funds to pay soldiers to sit in camp staring across an empty field. The answer is 'no', Your Highness. Next item."

Sitting in the back of the room, the Dowager Princess nodded in satisfaction. Firm and polite, the way a woman would have done it. Young William would grow into the job of filling his father's shoes. Question was, where the fuck was her idiot granddaughter? He'd come in with that fucking cougar on his arm, and Nieve was nowhere to be seen. She was squandering their chance at power, and Odessa was getting very tired of that.

Bonnie Bubblegum closed the meeting down not long after the debate over the border got shut down. It was time for the Inner Council to meet–a council to which Nieve would have been invited if she had at all been interested in doing her fucking job. Odessa was half of a mind to just barge in because her granddaughter wasn't looking after their interests. In the end, though, she waited just a moment too long to jump. Billy and the others were going into the chamber behind the throne, and she was too far away to have a chance at joining them.

Hundreds of miles away, Thor sat snoozing in his battered old car in the thin light of a winter morning a block away from a massive warehouse. His mind was on Star, stuck in the hospital just now. The doctors had decided that the babies had to come out. Right freakin' now, and their twins had been delivered by c-section two days ago. Star was recovering, and the kids were in intensive care. For that, the big man was supremely grateful. He was grateful for the gift of a mind like Bonnibel Bubblegum, who had rebuilt a _piece_ of the lost world in her kingdom. His kids had a _chance_, when, not very long ago, they would have been dead not long after being born and likely their mom with them. He wanted to be home. He wanted to see his lady and know she was ok. Instead, he was here.

While his mind was working through that, the passenger door opened, seemingly all on its own, shutting itself moments later. His unwelcome partner announced, "wow. Lot of dudes..." For Candy Abadeer, this was a very welcome adventure–a chance to be away from home for a bit. Not that she was unhappy with a life of partying and riches. Connie and Marshall were, between them, ridiculously wealthy. She and her little boy lacked for _nothing_. That wealth had come with a surprising dark side though. In truth, Candy, like her mother, ahd found herself in a continual fight against boredom. This was _fun_.

The little hussy finally decided to show herself, revealing the raunchy semi-see-through dress she'd put on that morning. Her plump, pear-shaped knockers were barely hidden by the sheer cloth and lace. The detective did his best to ignore both the dress and her continual attempts to wind him up. As long as she wore the coat and kept the sun off her skin, that was ok. He was already at risk from Star. He didn't need heat from the Vampire King too. "What're they doing," he asked? "Sitting around," Candy replied. "Same as the last set." With a bored yawn, she said, "aren't you going to attack them or something?" "Working on it," Thor replied. In the now, he needed exact numbers and lists of weapons.

They'd seen six of these warehouses over the last week or so, all placed close to strategic railroad stations and all swarming with strangers from the badlands and even from over the sea. They'd seen banditos from Tequila Kingdom and even a tribe of Buffalo-Men from north of Deer Kingdom. It was clear that whoever Kim Kil Wan was running with was bringing in a lot of dudes, and they didn't seem to be planning on working construction jobs.

As the bored vampire housewife recited lists of the boring junk she'd seen in the warehouse, the King of Ooo sat working on a puzzle. After taking the arm off over night, the big man had launched himself into learning the use of it once more as soon as he had breakfast down. He was determined to be as good with the mechanical arm as he was with his normal one. Three hours in, the door in the outer room opened, admitting a visitor to the isolation lab. Breezy stepped into the entry and stood there a moment, staring around her at the somber conditions. It was hardly the place you brought a pair of flighty young girls to meet their future husband, and she found herself a little worried about how this was going to go. Finn had already expressed a remarkable distaste for the idea, and her daughters were somewhere south of pleased.

_They inherited your rebellious streak,_ thought the Queen Bee. She was the Princess who'd run away from home to spend her time in disguise hanging out in various places for more than a year. She'd invited terrible scandal on her family and very nearly found herself in jail. Her mother had slapped her around twice–a fact that she'd been careful to keep from Finn over the course of their relationship. He'd always been the man she could count on to protect her, and she honestly was terrified of the idea of what he might have done if he'd known. _He's a good man,_ she thought. Rulership wasn't the place for good men, unfortunately. Power was far from interested in squeamish morality. Power had become a trap for her, and now it was starting to engulf her kids.

The big man was so engrossed in the puzzle that his friend was halfway across the room before he noticed her. Putting the toy aside, the big man moved to the window, greeting her with a cheerful, "hey, B." The Queen Bee was both saddened to see him in that room and pleased to see him in such a good mood. "Hi, Finn," she replied. She was dressed in another ugly, _severe_ dress, which told him a bit about her state of mind. Maybe it was the Bee Kingdom's Ruling Council. Maybe it was Bart. Somebody was leaning on his old friend. He wanted to give her a hug. Unfortunately he was trapped behind a fucking glass wall.

"You look well," she offered. Finn snorted. One-armed-bandit under glass. The startled Queen Bee stared a moment and then burst out laughing. Finn laughed too. The pair laughed like old friends, and Breezy's eyes were wet when they finished. The pair stared at each other a moment. There were so many things he wanted to say. Taking a deep breath, Breezy called out, "Penelle, Naome, please come in..." Finn grimaced. He should have known this wasn't a social call. Fuck! He didn't want to deal with this shit.

The two named girls came in just then, alongside a small horde of people with the aspect of _chaperons_. The big man found himself digging in for an unpleasant experience. This shit felt evil, and he didn't think it would ever feel different. His mind had repeatedly conjured up the idea of exacting vengeance on the men who'd forced Breezy into marrying a man who was cruel to her. He would have ended the whole system of arranged marriage.

The two young ladies that approached the window were instantly familiar to him. The girl on the left was clearly the older of the pair. She was dressed in a demur red-orange dress that hugged her body a little more than her mom's, though it was clear that Naome was probably already starting to get heat from conservative Bee-Folk society. Of a body-type with her mom, Naome was broad in the beam with a shockingly narrow waist, tapering out to a plump pair of pear-shaped knockers. The big man flushed in memory of the moment Breezy tried to jump him. _She's a _kid_, Finn,_ the big man reminded himself. She was maybe fifteen or sixteen.

Penelle was the younger sister, all of fourteen if he recalled. She dressed the part, with a gauzy white dress exposing bare legs and arms and showing off her budding breasts. The rebellious young lady had dyed her hair a shocking purple hue. Her fresh face and appearance sent his mind back to his youth. He'd been angry, confused, miserable, and short an arm. He'd been heading down the road towards doing awful things. An angel had saved him from himself. His eyes flicked to Breezy–the woman who had shared big chunks of his life. He didn't want a kid. He wanted the woman who'd saved his life. _She needs this, man,_ he thought. _Go along. As long as it's just talking, this is ok. Nobody can _make_ you touch a kid._

The big man found himself chatting with the trio under the watchful eyes of the chaperons for well over an hour. Naome, surprisingly, was the shy girl. He had to coax her to talk, and she was clearly more interested in the puzzles than anything else. Penelle was a forward little miss, interested in the battles he'd fought and curious about the path that had led him to his current space as King of the World. She was a dangerous little thing, slyly asking how many might be ahead of her in the King's Household. She'd been reading up, apparently, on the histories of ancient emperors. Little Penelle wanted _power_, which was a dangerous idea for somebody so young. She was the kind of girl who poisoned the other wives and their kids to advance herself. That bore watching. Even if Finn had no interest in marrying her, she could turn into a problem someday.

Feigning exhaustion, the big man sent the girls and their pack of chaperons outside, leaving him alone with their momma. Penelle had to have the last word, declaring that she would accept his court, if he so chose to give it, leaving Naome staring at her as if she were mad. "Better watch her," Finn chuckled. Breezy flushed to her hair. She'd had no idea that Penelle had been _reading_ again, the naughty little bitch. With a sigh, the Queen Bee admitted, "it's the world we live in, Finn..." Penelle had already gotten the talk about where her life was going to end up even before the suggestions that she marry Finn. Far sharper than Naome and more determined maybe than Aerwin, Penelle was determined to make the most of _her_ position.

"B," he said, "I'm'a be out of here..." "Just in time to come to Aerwin's wedding," Breezy interrupted. She knew what he was going to say, and she cut him off. There were ears listening. Every ounce of affection he showed her got back to Barton and hardened his heart against the Queen Bee. The big man had been about to put his hand up against the glass. Now he dropped it and stared down at the table. This was killing him. He was really starting to fucking hate Barton. "I'll be there," he said.

That should have been that. It was time to go. Finn had been more than fair in at least hearing the proposal and meeting her daughters. At the same time, the Council was pushing hard for this. The aborted invasion from Muscle Kingdom was still fresh in the minds of many. "I... I'm going to have to have an answer, Finn," said Breezy. "Tell them I won't be rushed," Finn retorted. "This is a big deal. They need to understand that I'm not going to rush to marry a kid. That shit's evil. You know how I deal with evil, B." The Queen shuddered. She knew. Utter violence and utter finality. "I'll remind them," she said, as she rose to go.

Finn watched that gently swaying ass all the way across the room. Even that ugly-ass dress couldn't completely hide how pretty his old friend was. When she glanced back at him, the big man licked his lips, causing her to flush to her crown and all but rush out of there. It was still there. It was always going to be there. He didn't want a fucking kid. He wanted Breezy herself. A part of him–an evil little sliver of his soul that he sometimes thought came from his dad–had toyed with the idea of making Barton disappear. He had power and prestige. He had connections in the underworld, and now he had Orzsebet. He could send Barton to Death's Quarry any time he felt like it. _But you wouldn't deserve her then, buddy,_ he thought, as he turned back to the puzzle.

Over in the Candy Palace, Billy the Human exited the meeting with the Inner Council. For once, Bonnibel Bubblegum was happy with his performance. He'd kept things under control with the Privy Council. He'd avoided losing his temper or letting things go off the rails. He'd been polite and firm–just like his dad. It was high-praise, and the big man was delighted to be getting better, though he still wouldn't have taken the job on a _bet_. Right now, his mind was on having lunch with his girlfriend before getting into the business of managing all the problems popping up across Ooo, and he still wanted to get over to the hospital to look in on Star.

Strolling down the hall, his mind on the half-a-hundred things he had to get done in the never-ending rat-race that his life had become, the big man very nearly brushed past Nieve without even seeing her. The Muscle Princess was literally standing in a side-passage looking like she'd lost her best friend. "Hey, Nieve," the big man greeted her, "heard you'd decided to come to the palace. We should do lunch." After long conversations with Olesia and Hamest both, that was how he'd decided to handle his _wife_. Nieve wanted nothing to do with this marriage, and he accepted that. He didn't want to be enemies with her though. The big man never slowed down. He didn't so much as acknowledge the distress that was plain on the terrified woman's face. It was as if she had already become a ghost.

Billy kept on walking, while, up ahead, Hamest was overseeing the servants as they put out lunch, including the strange food that the elemental girl ate. Pots of tar and chunks of charcoal. It was strange fare for a strange creature. Hamest was trying to accept that this was the way things were going to be. Certainly, Ragnhild, Abeiuwa, and Noemi weren't going anywhere. Rumblings were that the Lady of the Jungle was going to turn up real-soon-now from her excursion to the frozen east. Her _rival_ was in the next room just now, chatting with someone on the phone in rather animated fashion.

Billy came in just then, greeting Hamest with a cheerful, "hi, baby. Miss me?" Striding up, the big man snatched the lizard-girl off her feet and pulled her close, kissing those thin lips. While they were enjoying the moment, a puff of flame in the next room announced a surprise visitor. Setting Hamest down on her feet, Billy strode across their parlor to the door of Olesia's bedroom, finding a tall elemental standing there. "Hey," he greeted the newcomer. "Personal business," Olesia announced. "My brother... Laiurenty... He's come to pick something up for me."

Striding across the room, conjuring a fire-shield spell as he did so, the big man clasped hands with the stranger, announcing, "pleased to meet you, man. Your sister's a helluva person! We're all in debt to her for the help she gave us." Olesia flushed to her hair and glanced away. To Olesia, he said, "he doesn't have to rush off, O. I could have them go get some more food for him." "I... uh... that won't be necessary," Olesia stammered. "He's got to take something to my sister for me." "Bide a moment, Your Highness," said the newcomer. "Private matter with my sister. You understand, yes?"

Nodding, Billy headed back across the room and back out the door. "Is this worth it, 'Lesia," asked the tall fellow? "Do you want to do this?" "I gave my word," Olesia replied. "That's not what I'm asking, 'Lesia," he retorted. "You're doing that thing you do where you answer every question but the one I asked. Do you want to do this?" "I don't want you to bail me out, here," Olesia replied. "I took up this burden. People's lives are on the line, here. If Masia wants the Fire Drop, I'll give it to her. If it buys safety for those people, so be it." With a sigh, the tall man said, "we're going to talk about this. Later."

Billy and Hamest heard the blast of flame that signified an elemental _transporting_ through their fireplace, and then Olesia came out. "He didn't have to go," Billy insisted. "He could have stayed for lunch..." "He had to get out to see 'Masia and get back to work," Olesia replied. There seemed more to it than that, but Billy knew she could be stubborn when she was of a mind to. He let the matter drop in favor of talking about happier things.

Indeed, the elder brother was already stepping out of a fireplace in the Royal Suite in Hamest's palace. "Larry," howled Marysia Okonski! The pretty teen rushed across the room and threw herself on the tall soldier in his heavy iron armor. "Masia," he greeted her. It was clear from his tone of voice that he was already in disapproval mode. Looking around him at the rich furnishings, he knew immediately that his little sister was taking awful advantage of her hosts. Honestly, he didn't understand how they'd gone wrong with her because it seemed she was always up to _something_.

"Are these your quarters," he asked? "Borrowing them while I'm here," she answered. It was a lie. It was plain as the nose on her face that she was lieing. She was sleeping in quarters richer than her station because her hosts were likely out of the house. Changing the subject, she asked, "did you bring it?" "I'm not sure I approve of this... transaction," rumbled the soldier, as he took the heavy pendant from his pocket. "It's between me and 'Lesia," the young girl retorted, as she all but _snatched_ the gemstone from his hands.

Just as swiftly as she'd taken it, she was fastening the heavy chain around her neck, letting the fat orange gem dangle down between her heavy breasts. Rushing to the mirror, the young teen stood there preening, turning this way and that. "You're taking advantage of someone's real need, Masia," the big man muttered. "I don't like what you're doing here..." He was being a fuddy-duddy, and it was making Marysia cross with him. It seemed he _always_ took Olesia's side, no matter how much of a loser she was. In airy tones, the little princess replied, "it's fair compensation. I'm taking a risk for her." Striding towards the door, she said, "come and see my new digs! It's a very interesting place. They're practically worshiping me!" Rolling his eyes, the soldier followed his baby sister out the door of her 'borrowed' quarters.

The lizard folk in the hallway were a little startled by the presence of the second elemental. At the same time, they weren't going to turn down a little extra warmth on a chill winter day. Indeed, as Marysia led her big brother up and down through the warren of passages and hallways that was the Lizard-Palace, the locals were immensely grateful for the sight of them. The big man found himself rolling his eyes at the airs his sister put on, as they strolled about. It was clear as the nose on his face that these people were fucking cold in this frigid place, and what his sister saw as worship was a desperate hunger to be _warm_.

Strolling into the great hall, they encountered the first of the cyborgs. Olesia had told her brother that she was working with these people. Laiurenty Okonski found them fascinating. They were both distasteful for their habit of incorporating machinery into their bodies and strangely compelling. Marysia, irrepressible as ever, flirted with them shamelessly, blowing a kiss at the first one they came to. "Weirdo," she muttered, as they walked out of earshot. "Maybe you shouldn't blow kisses at women or insult people who probably have mechanically-enhanced hearing," the older man opined. Her face snapped around to him.

With a shrug, the big man said, "you're not using your heat-sense, Masia... She was clearly female." He'd seen her organs–the bits of her that weren't machines." "Skinny bitch," muttered Marysia. Then, "you don't _really_ think she heard me..." "They have much machinery in their bodies," Laiurenty replied. The young teen shivered. She'd cussed at a couple of them when she thought they weren't listening.

As they approached the massive fireplace at the end, they came at last to the leader of the cyborgs. Cunty Lina, as Marysia thought of her, was head-down over a chunk of plastic etched with channels of metal. Laiurenty recognized them as the kinds of electronic circuits flesh-creatures typically worked with. He'd gone to school for electronics and worked in the Communications Ministry, though the circuit-boards he'd worked with were typically heat-resistant ceramic.

"Lina," Marysia greeted the older woman. Lina looked up to find her nasty little problem had doubled. It was hard to believe that Olesia had come from the same family. "My older brother, Larry," Marysia announced. Laiurenty stooped and, after placing a small fire-shield spell on the lady's hand, kissed her fingers. It was a startling gesture. "Thank-you for looking after my sisters," the big man announced. Marysia stared at him. "No charge," Lina replied. "Olesia is a very good person. You should be proud of her." Resting a hand on his sister's shoulder, the big man said, "I'm leaving this one in your care. I hope that you will take as good care of her as you did my sweet Olesia, and if she misbehaves, you have my permission to cool her bottom." Tousling the young teen's hair, the big man turned to go saying, "I'll give mother your love, Masia."

Face gone red hot, the young princess hurled curses at her brother as he walked into the fireplace, but it was clear to Lina that he was hardly perturbed. He clearly knew his sisters quite well. Marysia stamped her feet in rage as the big man disappeared into the flames. Coolly, Lina asked, "weren't you due to go scouting?" The young teen stamped her foot, shouting, "I will do no such thing..." That was when the strange gem hanging around her neck literally jerked her bodily down onto Lina's lap. The startled cyborg was momentarily alarmed until she realized that the strange energy-field the elemental put on her hand had suddenly returned, only now covering her whole body. Tugging Marysia's hair, the tall woman said, "I think you should keep your word, Miss Okonski. Perhaps you might regret it otherwise." Marysia jumped up and tore out of there in a state of abject terror. She was going to punish Laiurenty for this! She was going to make him _suffer_!

**And another elemental girl starts to grow up! Billy comes into his own as his dad's heir, and Breezy dances to the Bee-Council's tune. And Kim Kil Wan is down deep in treason, importing bad dudes by the hundred.**


	26. Chapter 26

Chapter 26:

"Clean," announced the doctor. Finn wasted not a moment on angst or excess conversation. The word had barely left Drew's mouth before the big man wrapped those long, ape-like arms around his doctor and pulled her to him, locking his lips to hers as if he never got sex. Drew grabbed his left hand and put it on her ass. This earthy, _lusty_ man was the man she'd fallen in love with. "Get a room," Orzsebet muttered, as she pushed by. Finn stared at the skinny spy-girl's retreating back, his mind conjuring up images of torture. Who'd tortured his spymaster? Why? And, most importantly, _when_?

Laying her head on his shoulder, Drew said, "you need to get into that..." "She's not my type," Finn retorted. Drew sputtered, her face going red hot, making him laugh. Stroking his rough, battered face, the doctor said, "you'd probably need a condom to keep it from falling off." There had been a video circulating around of Orzsebet in a strip-club letting men jerk off on her. It was every kind of nasty. Finn blushed and glanced away, shocked that his doctor had heard of that. "I'll check into things," he said. "Right now she's doing good work for me, but I'm not sure I trust her."

Sarah brushed by, announcing, "I'll do some digging. Maybe I can find out what's going on with her..." It was more of the same. "She's hiding something," Finn rumbled. "She's suffering some kind of emotional breakdown, Finn," Drew sighed. _Everybody_ had noticed. "Bonnie's being very tight-lipped about what's going on there," said the doctor. "I've been pleading with her to do something." It was far outside of Drew's swimlane. She had every kind of test imaginable for a humanoid going through an emotional crisis and an array of pills to get them through the bumps. She had no idea what to do for a woman who was almost entirely artificial. "I'll press the issue," Finn promised. Stroking his chest with her long, delicate fingers, the lovely doctor murmured, "don't work too late. I'll see you tonight..." "Promise," he agreed. The King's bodyguard latched onto him the minute he was out of the isolation room. There had been one _good_ piece of things the last few days. He'd had peace. No bodyguards in sight, and, if his food-taster was still on the job, Finn hadn't had to watch the loon eat half his dinner. Now he was back to his unpleasant grind, dealing with the fallout of a life that was no longer his to control.

As the pair strode up to the limo in the basement, the big man's mind was already on the things that had to get done today between the happy _now_ and the happy _tonight_ when he would see Drew. First item on the agenda: Check up on Blargetha. He'd left the slime-princess to her own devices for quite a while now, trusting Sarah to keep tabs on her. Then he'd taken the android-woman with him to Rebirth Island to prevent a disaster of epic proportions, and that had landed them in this miserable place after the fact. Blargetha had been running open-loop, and it was time to get her reined in.

The King of Ooo rolled into the garage under Bonnie's place as the sun was climbing the sky towards noon. For once, Bonnie wasn't immediately hunting him, and that gave the big man hope that he could get some stuff done before she pig-piled on him. He knew Billy was holding down the fort, but he couldn't help an honest fear of all that wasn't getting done while he was trapped in that glass bubble. The big man found himself all but slinking through the halls of the palace, doing his best to avoid people who might be looking for him.

The genius was, per usual, down in the laboratory. Honestly, he didn't keep much of a guard on her. The paranoid piece of him worried at that–at what she might be doing when she wasn't actively being watched. He had trust in Maja's word. Maja had sworn herself to him. As long as he kept his word to her, he had no fear of what the witch might or might not be doing. Blargetha was another story entirely. She'd said it. She would always be trying to free herself. At the same time, he had a bit of an ace, didn't he. He could kill her with only a thought.

The laboratory was cleaner than the last time he'd been down here. The circuit-boards were stacked in boxes, and it looked like she'd been burning the midnight oil. It calmed his worries some, though he really would have wanted to have Sarah check up on things anyway. As he stepped through the door, a chime went off, and the evil princess glanced up from the soldering station. "Oh," she burbled. "It's you." Striding over, the big man asked, "what's that for?" He almost asked who gave her permission.

With a shrug, the fallen princess replied, "Hurletta comes down when you're not here." The King of Ooo frowned at her. "We're not exactly _friends_, Finn," Blargetha remarked, as she went back to what she was doing. He wanted to refute that. Hurletta understood his wishes. _She's hurting, Finn,_ he thought. Could Hurletta have a _relapse_? It was all too possible. It was even _likely_. He didn't want 'Letta to murder Blargetha, as much for her own good as for Finn's need to keep the evil genius around. More to the point, he feared Blargetha murdering Hurletta, even in self defense.

"I'll speak to your sister," Finn rumbled. Blargetha chuckled as if he'd told a funny one. "What does that mean," he muttered? "She's pretty now," Blargetha replied, as if that explained everything. It took a moment. The King snatched the nasty bitch out of her chair, growling, "be careful what you say..." She gave him an insolent look, almost daring him to carry through on his threat. "We've had this conversation before, King of Ooo," Blargetha whispered. He was vulnerable. He was a vulnerable man who had trouble _not_ loving women he was close to. He had trouble not trying to satisfy their whims, and there were moments when he offered up things to them to soothe their battered psyches. Even when those things were just as wretched as whatever those women had just experienced.

Finn let go, stepping back out of her space. Blargetha didn't let him get far. Stepping back into his space, the plush princess said, "I trust the King's word. I'm keeping mine. We have a deal. I'm sticking to it..." Trouble was, what was he doing to honor _his_ piece of the bargain. Stepping back, she turned and said, "I've got most of the control boards made. Sarah ran tests on the design already, so I'm confident they'll work. I need materials for a prototype unit. Who do I talk to...?" Shaking off the strange feeling he had, the big man rumbled, "Lollipop. She's handling... things..." Nodding, as she sat herself back at the soldering station, the plump woman said, "it will take me six more weeks to build out the supply of robot-ships after we've had the first test... assuming nothing goes badly wrong..."

Finn rumbled, "wrong?" "Nobody's done this in a thousand years, Finn," Blargetha replied. "Certainly not on this scale. Bonnie's done her robot-soldiers, but nobody's built flying machines like this in a thousand years. Even Nadia's people had to rebuild the old wrecks that were left over from before the Mushroom War." Turning to face him, she said, "it's kind of refreshing... It's funny, in a way. All I ever really wanted was to tinker, but that's not what a princess is allowed to do."

Finn flushed and glanced away. He didn't like this _human_ Blargetha. He didn't like to think of her as a person because people had reasons for the ugly things they sometimes did, and he didn't want to discover the reasons Blargetha might have handed her sister over for Wildberry's goons to abuse. "See Lollipop for money to get the materials you need," the big man muttered, as he turned to go. Standing at the door, the big man announced, "I will have a guard posted when I'm not present in the castle so that you are not disturbed, Princess Blargetha." "Good day, Your Majesty," Blargetha replied, as she turned back to her work.

Elsewhere in the palace, another unpleasant conversation was just getting started as Sarah rushed into her quarters to gather on some clean clothing prior to rushing back down to the lab. Slime-bitch was running open-loop, and Finn had been counting on her to keep the bitch in check. She had to get downstairs to make sure Blargetha was doing what she was supposed to be doing. After that, she had business of her own to finish. The project to restore the ruined soil in the wasteland was going resolutely nowhere, and she really needed to get back to it. Lives were depending on her.

Striding into the cubby she'd been keeping for quarters, she found the place empty of the few possessions she'd accumulated in the last year or so. Puzzled, the android-hottie stood there, staring a moment. _Peps,_ she thought? They weren't on the best of terms right now, and she knew threatening him had been a pretty dumb idea. "I moved your things," Bonnie announced. Sarah's face whipped around. "This isn't healthy," said the candy-monarch. "I moved your things to a proper space." Sarah sighed. It appeared they were about to have that conversation she'd been ducking for months.

Following Bonnie's swaying backside down to the elevator, the android-girl kept on searching for a way out. It was illogical in the extreme, and she knew it. Part of her would have cursed her emotions for getting her into this mess. It was easier to be a machine. Nothing came to mind, though, as the two stepped off the elevator at the garden level. Sarah found herself following Bonnie into one of the dining nooks in the garden, where Peppermint Butler had tea already laid out. With a heavy sigh, Sarah sat down, digging in for a confrontation.

Bonnie did nothing of the sort–at least at first. She sat herself, smoothing her skirts as she did so. "Surprised you're still wearing pants," she murmured, as she poured the tea. Sarah flushed. Then, "I like it." She _liked_ that men saw her as beautiful. Bonnie sighed. Somewhere along the way, she'd lost that. Maybe she'd gotten traumatized or something. She got uncomfortable when men looked at her. The only person who didn't creep her out was Finn.

"How did it go," asked the Candy-Monarch? "We got there just in time," Sarah replied. "It's... It's not quite what you thought." Resting her elbows on the table, the android-girl explained, "it took Finn's eyes to connect the dots. The virus was a military weapon. Baba-Yaga confirmed it for us." Bonnie leaned forward. Nodding, Sarah said, "it got away from her. Rose was probably its creator. She may have accidentally infected herself." "Wow," Bonnie murmured. She'd known the Skeleton Princess for centuries. "She's dieing, Bonnie," Sarah murmured. "She's in the final stages, I think."

"Were there samples," the Candy-Monarch asked? "No," Sarah replied. "Rose is Patient Zero." "It's inside her," Bonnie agreed. "Her leg, maybe?" "Yeah," Sarah replied. "Finn figured it out." Finn had told Bonnie the story of taking the leg back to Rose when Ice-King stole it. He'd had nightmares of that place. "We had no idea how close we came to hell on earth," Bonnie sighed. Finn and Jake had carried the Skeleton Princess's leg in a simple sack. They could have caught the virus and become horrific monsters. She'd have lost one of the defining pieces of her life. "Finn put her out of reach," said Sarah. "He and Talia used the Curse to create a forest of demonic grass and trees to wall off the lab."

"I'm glad you all came back safe," Bonnie murmured. "I haven't been good with saying this, Sarah, but you have value to me." The younger woman flushed and glanced away. "I'm here for you," Bonnie declared. "I... haven't been good with that. I'm kind of a jerk sometimes, I know, but I want to help. I know... you're going through some stuff." "You've talked to Marcie," Sarah muttered.

Setting down her teacup, Bonnie looked her precocious creation in the eye and said, "you're going through the exact same thing I had to go through..." Sarah glanced up sharply. In gentle tones, Bonnie told her sort-of child, "I had to go through this for the first time when I was eighty-five. That was when my friends started dieing. It was the first time I realized something was different about me." Sarah's expression went bleak as her creator talked about what it was like to stand at those gravesides and cry. "As you're doubtless aware, Marceline was and is absolutely no help," said Bonnie. Sarah knew. Marceline had raised _herself_ in the aftermath of doomsday. She'd had no-one to teach her about basic humanity.

"I had to learn to cope, Sarah," said Bonnie. "You work," Sarah murmured. Bonnie fenced off her heart and threw herself into work. "I-I can't," Sarah said, as the tears started to fall. "You don't have a choice," Bonnie replied. "Entropy dictates that everything returns to dust, babe. We both know that." "I barely know how to love, and you want me to give it up," Sarah sobbed?! "I'm telling you how to protect yourself," Bonnie retorted! Shooting to her feet, the android girl shouted, "why did you make me?!" She was running just like that. Bonnie sighed heavily as she stared at where the other woman had sat. It had gone about as well as expected which was to say, not well at all.

Finn, meanwhile, had headed upstairs, managing to slip into his office while Breakfast was out looking after their kids or something. Talia's words to him at Rose's place had struck a nerve. There was a lot he didn't know about the world right now. There were ugly things buried in hidden places all over Ooo. The Royals were in control of a lot of it, but even there, his knowledge of just what they had in their hands was limited. Rags guarded something, but Finn had no idea what it was. Vague things Princess Beautiful let slip suggested that the very thing she'd been meant to guard had been the thing that ended her life on Ooo. What was it? He didn't know, but the thought terrified him.

First the Lich and now the Bandit Princess had launched wars aimed at gathering in those forgotten weapons, so the obvious question was, what else was there? How much did Bandit Princess know? What was his risk level? Talia's secret could shatter the world, but he thought most of the other secrets were relatively small scale. Still, when there were deadly secrets like the Zombie Plague floating around, he felt like he had little time to lose.

Picking up his phone, he dialed up Nadia. He needed a ride. He needed to get out to the one person on Ooo who might have the knowledge he sought. _There's _two_, Finn,_ he reminded himself. Talia's mysterious friend also dated back to the time before the bombs, and she was possibly guarding something that the Bandit Princess wanted. He needed the answer to that question too. He needed to know what it was that Katsumi had in her possession that met the scale of destruction that Bandit Princess seemed to desire. "C'mon, Nadia," the big man rumbled, as the phone rang and rang.

He hung up and paused, wondering if he ought to call again. She could be in some kind of big meeting of her people. Of course, at the same time, this wasn't just a booty-call. He needed her help to solve a world-shaking problem. As he was reaching for the phone to dial again, there came a knocking at the door. _Fuck,_ he thought! He'd hoped to get this trip put together before Bonnie or somebody else came knocking with something that needed his attention right-freakin'-now.

"Come in," he muttered. "You don't sound very welcoming," Strudel declared, as she stepped through his door. "Oh, Strudel," he burbled, face gone hot. "Didn't realize it was you, babe. Listen... I'm sorry... I'm..." The little breakfast cutie came strolling towards him, wearing a coat as if she'd been outside, which was a little odd. "This is important too," she said, as she stopped in front of his desk. "Ok," he said. "I'm sorry if I haven't been giving you attention..." And he was genuinely sorry. He'd been intending to 'work on that'. That was key to shutting the baby-thing down for good. If everybody had one...

Walking around the desk, Strudel put on a pouty face, saying, "you didn't put a baby in me." Finn flushed to his hair. "I'm your wife too," pouted Strudel, "and I need an heir." As she said that, she shrugged off the coat she'd been wearing, revealing she was naked underneath, the cool air on her hot little body, making her firm little tits erect. Finn's jaw dropped. At the same time, his pecker lurched in his pants. There were people who said it was a little nasty that he was banging Breakfast and Strudel both. Moments like this, it was hard to give a fuck!

As Strudel moved in on her husband, Nieve the Muscle-Princess returned from a long walk around the palace gardens to the suite she'd been given. Her quarters here were considerably smaller than she was accustomed to. It was another of those things that she was infuriated by. She felt _trapped_ in this place, and her own family was forcing her to stay on. The only consolation was her maid. Marisol was almost a member of the family. Her mother had served Nieve's mother until her retirement.

Marisol had meal-prep done and waiting. Moving into her bedroom, the young princess began climbing out of her clothes to take a shower. Marisol had already laid out a fresh track suit and a clean hoodie for her to wear. Moving into her bathroom, the tall beauty stopped stock-still as she caught sight of the message written in her own lipstick on the mirror. Her scream brought Marisol running. "Miss," Marisol shouted?! "What ails ye?!"

Nieve pointed. The young maid frowned. "W-where were you," Nieve demanded? "Who did you let in?" "Was down the hall at the linen closet," Marisol replied. "Locked the door, jist like ye said. 'Course don't know that others ain't got a key... Like that weird peppermint feller..." A profoundly disturbed Nieve wandered out to her bedroom and all but fell onto the bed. The maid wiped the mirror clean and disposed of the ruined lipstick before exiting the bath to find her boss.

"D'ja talk t'the mister," asked Marisol? "Tell him about what's been happening?" "That man hit me," Nieve retorted. "But he's your hubby," Marisol replied. "He's sworn to take care of you..." "I want nothing to do with that man," Nieve howled! "Never speak his name!" Marisol came over and sat beside the young woman. Offering her a hug, the maid said, "I put a little extra sugar in your tea. Come and eat."

Back downstairs, Toast Princess, the King's Minister for Sustenance, barged into his office as if she was at home, shutting the door behind herself. Her sister was absent and probably doing something typically pointless like getting her hair done while her husband was in an isolation ward. "Hey, Finn," Toast greeted her old friend. "Uh... hey... uh Toast," a startled Finn babbled, as he squirmed in his chair. Toast knew that look. It was the look of a man who'd gotten caught sneaking a piece of ass. She well knew it because she'd had more than a few guys in that position over the years. She'd sucked off her sister's husband behind his desk while Breakfast was just steps away.

Striding forward, she said, "wanted to talk to you about something." "Uh... yeah... Uh, I'll come out and...," Finn stammered. "No need to get up," Toast replied. "I don't mind if we talk while you get a blowjob." Finn's face went red-hot. As Toast came around the desk, her eyes took in the sight of her little sister there with her sweet little lips wrapped around Finn's fat knob. "Not bad, sis," said Toast. "Not bad at all. But you should play with his balls too."

Without a further word, she reached back, unzipped her dress, and let it fall, baring her hot little body to Finn's hungry eyes. Kneeling down, she slurped Finn's heavy ballsack into her mouth and began sucking on it. With a hiss of pleasure, Finn shot off in Strudel's mouth. When the two sisters pulled back, Finn was in a state of shock. "I want my baby," murmured Strudel. "I want you to fuck your baby into me..." With a nasty grin, Toast replied, "oh, I'll make _sure_ you get a baby..."

Hundreds of miles to the east, a rag-tag band of fugitives shook themselves out for the afternoon's activities. They were cold, miserable, and hungry, having spent the night in the icy chill stirring terror in the remote villages of the Lizard Kingdom. Their distant master kept them here on threat of liquidating their families. They had to keep the King of Ooo's attention focused on this place. That meant mimicking the sights and signs on an army. They had to keep the illusion of an army here.

Between rounds of scaring up whatever wild food they could catch or trap, they chopped down wood to build bonfires. They would drag and carry and haul wood to remote locations around the Lizard Kingdom capitol in furtherance of the scheme. Those fires got moved every day and reset every night, creating the illusion of a rogue army marching around the Lizard Kingdom, threatening the Lizard Princess's subjects. It was brutal, back-breaking work, and the men were exhausted and close to their breaking point. Their leader sat on a rock, staring at their seed-fire, wondering how he and his people had gotten into this mess.

Unfortunately for him, his problems were about to get _much_ worse.

The seed fire flared to sudden, shocking life, startling the exhausted men, many of whom were fighting sleep in a vain effort to avoid freezing to death. As the first of the startled men climbed to his feet with some vague idea of getting the fire back under control, a slim, yet curvy figure stepped out of the flames. One startled man found himself ogling a pretty teenager that reminded him of his wife's niece. Curvy and stacked, with mouth-watering knockers, the girl stood there, naked as a jaybird, wearing a sinister smile.

"Finally," growled Marysia Okonski, as she took in the sight of her quarry. She'd been chasing these fucking guys for _days_. Cunty Lina had been riding her for days to chase down the source of the mysterious bonfires. Masia didn't know if the bitchy cyborg suspected something, but now the young elemental saw that there was no army. It was just these jokers running around starting fires. Stepping out of the fire, conjuring suitably pretty clothes as she did so, the young girl almost put her foot immediately wrong, as a quick-thinking soldier grabbed the water cask and hurled it at her. With a shriek of terror, Masia dodged aside, as the heavy cask smashed into the ground, splashing water on her.

The fight was on then. Clothes forgotten, the elemental hurled bolts of fire at her assailant. Six men decamped, tearing off into the wilderness. The elemental slew two of them before the men before her tried to kill her again. Ducking back through the seed-fire, as they hurled coffee and cold water at her, she bounced out through a torch, hurling flaming bolts at four more men. Two men ducked behind stones to save themselves, clutching waterskins.

_Fuck,_ Masia thought. This was supposed to be a _surprise_. She'd intended to just jump them. The whole thing was already going off the rails. Some of them had gotten away. The others had taken up the few weapons they had that could hurt her. And now they were under cover. And, to top things off, she was fucking naked, and the creeps were peepin' her bod! Her first thought was to get back to the palace, but Lina was waiting there. Lina was waiting with her nasty insinuations that Olesia was the smarter, stronger sister.

"Surrender," growled the young princess. "You can't win. That water won't help you. I can..." What she _could_ didn't quite get said. Six men jumped up at once and hurled blocks of ice at her. She was barely able to knock down five of them, and the sixth grazed her, causing her left arm to go dead. Screaming, the young woman hurled her spite at the six, killing four of them. The rest got away, ducking back behind boulders.

Back in the Candy Palace, Finn sat riveted to his chair, with Toast sitting in his lap, while his wife was sitting on the desk. Somehow, in spite of the fact that Strudel was supposed to be getting a baby, it was _Toast_ who was riding his dick. She'd pulled a giant rubber dick out of her purse and proceeded to put on a very raunchy show in front of him. Then, claiming that he was so wound up, he might pop before he actually got his pecker in Strudel's snatch, she'd proceeded to climb into his lap and slide her hot snatch down over his dick.

Between the sight of Strudel running a giant rubber dick in and out of her snatch, and the feel of Toast's pussy squeezing his meat as she slowly rode him, the big man was going crazy. "T-t... _babe_," shouted Finn! He was about to blow! Softly, the middle sister moaned, "go ahead, Finn. That's what I stopped by for. So you could get me pregnant." That took the top of his head off! Finn grabbed her surging hips and slammed his pecker in deep once... twice... On the third stroke, he shot off, spraying her good. Toast eased off Finn's well-satisfied cock. Looking down on his now-flaccid pecker with an expression of mock dismay, she burbled, "that won't do. Kiss her, while I fluff this up..."

Back in the Lizard Kingdom, Lina sat working on the surveys for the soil under the beach. They'd surveyed the site for the northern wall out to a distance of two-hundred feet off the beach. They were already looking basically at deep water at that point, and there was always the possibility of sinking barges laden with stone to build a base to lay a concrete breakwater. Work on the south end wasn't going as fast. There was much more sand on that end of town, but they were still making progress.

*Lina,* announced Thedya. The stacked cyborg looked up to see the fire in the fireplace sputtering. Frowning, she stared at that in puzzlement for a moment. It took a moment. Quickly grabbing one of the gadgets from the table beside her, she scanned for the temporal disturbance that usually signified Olesia passing through a fire. "Throw some logs on the fire," she shouted, as she shot to her feet. There were a few puzzled glances, but Thedya was on the job. Rushing down the hall, snatching up an armload of firewood on the run, she dumped the wood on the fire.

Just in time. The fire flared just then, and Marysia staggered out. The young elemental stood there a moment, naked as the day she was born, her skin covered in ugly black and purple splotches like wounds. Then she was toppling, falling flat on her face at the skinny girl's feet. Lina rushed up and threw an asbestos blanket over her. Scooping Marysia up, the sexy cyborg carried the the young elemental out of the hall, trusting in the strange damping field her brother had left behind.

**No dick for Drew. Looks like Finn will be too tired. Sarah melts down. Marysia gets frozen out. And Blargetha has a plan.**


	27. Chapter 27

Chapter 27:

"What's wrong," Olesia asked? "Not looking forward to this," Billy admitted. The witch they were going to visit was already hostile after months of attacks on her home, and she was almost certainly harboring very dangerous secrets. She had no reason to be friendly to them and many reasons to be violent. And Billy wanted to see his kids. With a smile, the young elemental declared, "things are going to go well. The King of Ooo is the wisest man in the world, and he'll have his strong, intelligent, _capable_ son at his side." The big man flushed to his hair. She was like Rags that way–always seeing the best in him.

Finn rushed by, bodyguard in-tow. It was time to go. "I'll look after Hamest," Olesia promised. "Be safe." He almost wanted to kiss her. "See you when I get back," he said, as he turned to go. The plump girl watched as he went up that ramp, taking her heart with him. There was something there. She could see it in his eyes. "I love you," she told the air, as the heavy ramp cycled shut.

Hamest was clearly in a blue funke when Olesia returned to Billy's apartments after seeing him off. The young elemental strolled into the little kitchen and spent a while rummaging around for something to eat, coming up with some char from the stove. Strolling into their salon, she found the Lizard Princess sitting in Billy's chair, staring into space. Drawing her chair up, Olesia told her, "starving yourself isn't going to help, Hamest. You need to eat. C'mon... I'll make you something." She'd been getting better at cooking up humanoid food.

Of course, that was part and parcel of the problem between the pair. Olesia had taken to cooking Billy's dinner herself, something Hamest had no skill at all with. The cougar stared at her young rival with an expression somewhere between fear and hate. Though Billy had hardly seemed to notice the subtle _change_ that had come over the little bitch since they'd returned to the Candy Kingdom, Hamest had seen it immediately.

"You... you're trying to steal him from me," she snapped! "I'm trying to fit in as a useful member of the court, Hamest," Olesia replied. It had taken her quite a while to see that, but this was a place that needed productive _adults_. Woman-babies need not apply. "W-what did you call me," Hamest babbled?! "Was talking about myself, actually," Olesia replied. "I'm trying to fit in, Hamest. You've nothing to fear from me. I'm not here to take your place or take anything from you."

The Lizard-Princess jabbed her in the shoulder with a very-sharp talon, saying, "then explain _that_!" "That wasn't very nice," Olesia replied, as she rubbed at her injured arm. "If you're not trying to steal my boyfriend, why... why are you taking those pills," Hamest demanded? "It's really not your business," Olesia replied. "My body, my choice. But I'll indulge you." Popping a piece of char into her mouth, the plump girl said, "I'm a danger, Hamest. I'm an elemental living in a world of flesh-creatures. Like the maids. Like you. And, yes, like William." Reaching out, she poked the older woman just as Hamest had poked her. That single touch could very easily have burned Hamest to a crisp.

"I could accidentally burn the palace to the ground just by sitting on the _couch_," Olesia observed. "I'm taking precautions to protect those around me. It's what a responsible person does. I didn't do it in your palace because the need to keep that rogue army at bay took precedence, but rest assured I was keenly aware of the dangers to your people as well." Hamest glanced away, feeling all of two inches tall.

Resting her chin on the heel of her hand, Olesia said, "am I in love with William? Oh, yes, of course I am. Would I hurt you or anyone else to crowd the line? No. William's home is happy. How happy would it be if I brought in a pile of drama? I'd be wrecking the very happiness I wanted to have a piece of." This conversation was going somewhere unexpected, and the Lizard-Princess wasn't sure she wanted to continue. At the same time, she'd had no avenues and no friends to talk to about her worries. "I don't know what they're going to say when they come back," she said.

"They're going to say, 'straighten up'," Olesia replied with a shrug. "They're going to tell you just the same thing the Warrior Princess told me. Put in work. Be useful. If you're useful, you'll be allowed to stay. If you're just a hanger-on behaving like a stupid child, you'll be run off. William... William doesn't much like airheads..." He was much like his father that way. Maybe it was the ugly business of the Lich War. He'd grown up _fast_ during that affair. All of the Mertens-kids had grown up fast. They'd had no choice but to become adults with very adult world-views. Meanwhile women like this one had remained _stagnant_, thinking in terms of their pleasures and desires rather than the common good.

"W-what did you give her," Hamest murmured? The elemental's face snapped up, her expression warning. "You gave that girl something," Hamest insisted. "I heard you talking about it." With a heavy sigh, Olesia replied, "the Fire-Drop. It was... my grandmother's favorite piece of jewelry. Grandma gave it to me before she went cold, and Masia's always been jealous of that." Hamest shot to her feet, clawing at her own hair. That was horrible! She'd accused this woman of being a dirty cheat, when she'd done something so _noble_! "People are more important than a fucking piece of stone, Hamest," Olesia muttered, though she was clearly hurt by having to give up the jewel. "People hurt when they give up family keepsakes," Hamest retorted, as she hugged the younger woman.

Hundreds of miles to the east, Marysia Okonski awoke from a horrid dream of dozens of men pouring icy water on her naked body. Marysia sat up slowly, wincing from the aches and pains and moaning softly. "You're alive," Lina announced in her customary sardonic voice. The battered teen stared at her with a bleak expression. Wearing an asbestos glove, Lina reached into the fireplace and half-dragged the young girl out. Leading her over to a stone table, the tall woman sat her down. It was only when her ass touched the icy bench that she realized she was still naked.

"I've already seen it," Lina gruffly remarked, as Masia tried to cover up her charms. "This isn't a game," she said, as she shoved a plate of rich, sulfurous coal in front of the young girl. "Eat," said the cyborg. "Then you're going back to bed." "Th-they're _dry_," Masia whined! Lina rolled her eyes. These two _couldn't_ be from the same family!

It was the middle of the following day when the airship carrying the King of Ooo came wafting down out of the sky in the Truth Kingdom's western lands. Sakura the Truth Field Princess stood watching from the shelter of her western palace's portico. She had mixed emotions about this. She was angry at Finn. She knew that her anger made no sense at all, but she felt the anger all the same. Finn had come here to try and resolve a deadly threat both to her kingdom and the world, but she could only feel the sting of rejection. She felt _rejected_. He wouldn't sleep with her to give _her_ a child, but he'd done it with Sheila.

The King and his entourage arrived at the palace not long after the airship landed and, per the Princess's instructions, were immediately guided to quarters, though both the King and his son insisted on having space alone to conduct a little business. Sakura Sasaki knew she should leave well enough alone. She'd sworn she would leave things where they lay. At the same time, she'd been incensed when Sheila came trolling around, showing off that disgusting swollen belly of hers and crowing about how good Finn had been in bed.

The little woman stayed in her own space for much of the afternoon and well into the evening, fuming and fighting with herself. Why was she still doing this? Finn had never expressed anything like a desire for her. Honestly, he'd behaved like she was off-putting. Of course, if she were honest with herself, he'd behaved like Sheila was off-putting too. Fortunately, for her fragile psyche, her powers to compel truth failed to work on their owner.

Dinner came and went with only the vaguest of reports of what the King of Ooo was up to. She'd imagined in her heart of hearts that he would feel guilty. She'd thought that he would at least come to find her to talk. She'd planned every sort of contingency–from seduction to cajoling to outright confrontation. None of those plans had a hope of working if their target just avoided the whole business altogether, though. In the end, instead of having a chance to meet him on her own terms where she'd have the advantages, the Truth Field Princess was forced to go down and deal with Finn the King on his terms instead.

"Hey," Finn greeted the Truth Field Princess, as she stood there at the door. "Finn," Sakura replied. She was in a snit. He could see it in her eyes. It was a lot like he'd figured this was going to go. He'd known the minute he woke up hungover from a mega-dose of narcotic honey with his back and ass sore from lamprey-person venom that Sheila would be simply unable to keep her fucking mouth shut. She'd tell Sakura, because some girls couldn't help being cunty, even to people they called 'friend'. He'd reckoned without the whole 'sabotaged condom' thing, but that just made it all the more imperative not to go off the script with Sakura.

As the big man continued to work, she stared at him. Yup. She was in a snit. She was doing that shit Emeraude used to do when she was pissed off about something. He was supposed to walk into the trap–ask 'what's wrong'. Because, yeah, that shit was a trap. Oddly, Simone had never pulled that crap on him, and he was forever grateful for it. Simone was happy to tell you that she was A) pissed as hell at you, and B) what she thought you'd done to land in hock. Eventually, between them, they'd broken E of the habit of playing games.

Sakura had apparently not gotten the memo.

Finn found himself chuckling. Bonnie used to use that phrase, but he hadn't understood it until the nanobugs. "Something funny," Sakura demanded? "Yeah," Finn replied. "Something funny about a middle-aged woman standing there giving me the stare like we're high-school kids and I forgot that she likes honey in her tea." The little woman flushed like he'd slapped her. She had, indeed, giving him a ration of shit for that very thing _decades_ ago. On his side, Finn had learned long ago in those idiotic duels with Emeraude that the key to dealing with the games was to go on offense. Don't play the game by The Rules.

"I thought you'd said you weren't interested in sexual encounters," she rumbled. "You said a King didn't have affairs..." "I still think a King should guard himself against affairs," replied a distracted Finn. He was going over next-year's budget now. The money... was insane. He'd never had his hands on so much fucking money in his life. It beggared even the money that Bonnie had controlled. It made the money he'd lost in Wildberry Kingdom seem like pocket-change.

And it just wasn't enough.

It wasn't enough money to do all the things he felt he _needed_ to do, much less the things he _wanted_ to do. There was the burned land in the east that needed fixing. There was the constant problems with starvation and homelessness in the Grey Forest. He had to figure out what to do with the people of Wildberry Kingdom. Their homeland was _gone_. He had to get the peanuts squared away before they became an even bigger problem. He wanted an end to the rebellions. That didn't get into the chronic _stupid_ afflicting his subjects.

Bonnie's peeps were doing ok. Bonnie had schools for them to go to, and some peeps had even started schools of their own. Some of the other kingdoms had schools, but a lot of the kingdoms had little or nothing for schools and even lacked teachers to teach the basics. The Grey Forest was like that. Wood-nymphs grew up like weeds because they had no better prospects. That had to get fixed too, but he just couldn't fucking find the money for it.

Sakura's eyes flicked left and then right. She was having trouble making this about _him_. "You slept with Sheila," she muttered. Yeah, her best frenemy. Sheila and Sakura, like Alexia and Aysun, had been friends and rivals for as far back as Finn could remember. There was a weight of jealousy there. Sakura had that petite frame, and Sheila was built like a fucking walking heart-attack. Even in her forties, Sheila was built like a fucking heart-attack. There was still very little sag to those mega-knockers, and she still had that ass, though little Susie had put some pounds on her middle.

"Sheila drugged me," Finn retorted. "You let her keep the child," Sakura rumbled. As if he had much of a choice there. What was he supposed to do? Just _take_ a child from its momma? "What about _me_," she demanded? "She... she has an heir! What am I supposed to do?" Finn glared at her. What the fuck was _he_ supposed to do about that? Play matchmaker? Snap his fingers. She had that situation in the palm of her hands. She could go out and find a dude to get her pregnant if that's what she wanted. Finn himself? He was King of Ooo, and a King had to be more responsible.

Strangely, Blargetha's words to him were still sticking in his mind like a burr under his shirt. He loved women. He always had, and he always would. He had a deep need to make them happy. She was right. He was vulnerable to manipulation, and a crying woman could easily wind him up and twist him to do what she wanted him to do. He'd been tempted to do something horrific to please Toast. He'd been putting the whole thing together until Beeps talked him out of it. Evil as she was, Blargetha was right. That had to change.

The King of Ooo's blue eyes came up and locked with Sakura's pea-green eyes, conveying just how he was feeling. This wasn't _his_ problem, and he wasn't going to be moved to rush to do something for her. Chest rising and falling, she stood there a long time, her expression bleak. Then, without another word, she turned and walked away, leaving him there in the little room he'd borrowed.

Billy was just finishing up a little work of his own in the garden when he heard the soft sound of a girl crying. He was starting to see just how shit was the job of King, and he only had a small taste of it. Rising from his place, the big man stepped out of the little grotto where he'd been working, his face scanning this way and that. Where? Scooping his gear into his small bag, the big man tracked the sound of tears, finally crossing into a hidden space the he hadn't even realized was there. He was a little surprised to find Princess Sakura there, bawling her eyes out.

Kneeling there before her, the big man took her hand, saying, "you ok? What's wrong?" The Truth Field Princess looked up at him, wiping at her eyes as she did so. She looked thoroughly miserable, and his heart went out to her. He could only imagine what she was going through as Princess of a realm that was under constant threat from bandits and worse. Sitting down beside her, he took her hand, saying, "hey... what can I do to help?"

Morning found Finn hard at it already, working on all the minutiae of an empire. Billy could _hear_ him down in the garden, talking on the phone to somebody. He could hardly imagine just how hard it was to keep up the pace the older man kept. Hours before others were up, Finn was up and working. He barely stopped to get some food in his gut before getting into business with the cabinet. Then, when he was done with getting a little food down for lunch, it was on to audiences with the endless stream of people who wanted something out of him. After that, he spent his time on the kids–Billy's younger siblings. After that, he spent the remainder of his day on Billy's stepmothers. He literally had no time for himself.

Bill feared that. He wasn't sure he was ready to have his life literally _consumed_ by taking care of other people. Last night was odd on a number of levels. He'd gotten himself into another princess-entanglement. He'd chalked it up to doing his duty. Bonnie and Betty kept on talking about stability, and he saw that there was some truth there. An heir that was part of their family might be an heir less prone to flights of fancy like Nieve and Yolanda. At the same time, he'd put himself in a bit of a situation with Sakura. What if she wanted to place demands on him too?

She was gone, of course. She'd done the unthinkable for a Royal, even though she'd clearly done it before. _I guess she has an edge,_ Billy thought, as he swung his legs out of the bed. She could just _ask_ you if you were going to kiss and tell, and you would have to tell her the truth. With a grimace as he sifted through her words, the big man realized that she'd maybe, kinda-sorta done just that last night. She'd asked him if he would acknowledge their child, and he'd told her just what she wanted to hear. Only if she wanted that. Shaking his head, the young prince got up and headed for the bathroom to wash.

By the time Billy arrived in the garden, Finn was all done with the business of Empire, and it was time to head out. Sakura herself was nowhere to be seen, but her Captain of the Guard was present alongside the team that Nadia the Grid-Face Princess had sent them. The plan was every kind of risky. They were all but invading Shiyan village, even after Finn had essentially _handed_ it to Katsumi. The witch could easily react very badly to that, and Billy gave them a fifty-fifty chance of ducking a fight, which was about fifty-percent too low for his liking.

The conference went fairly quickly. They had to get rolling if they were going to get to Shiyan and get everything in place so they could head out to Talia's place in the wastes. With the plan in place, the King and his son gathered their gear and headed out to a small fleet of trucks for the long drive. Sitting in the back of one of the trucks, Finn sat carving away at a piece of wood–an activity that Billy hadn't seen the big man working at in many years. Honestly, he couldn't remember the last time he'd seen it. The _what_ he was working on took Billy's breath away. It was a toy. It was a toy for a small child. _So much for taking time for himself,_ he thought.

Rolling through the mountains, Billy found his mind going further and further off onto that tangent. What if that was _him_? What was he going to do about it? What _could_ he do about it? Kids had to get taken care of. If you married a pack of women, you had to take care of their needs. And if you took the job of King of the World, you better fucking do a good job at it. It was a _jarring_ realization though. People were _already_ looking at him as Finn's heir, and it was one more reason not to want that fucking job.

As the sun was heading down in the sky, they came down the last mountain pass before Shiyan. Leaving much of the team of soldiers behind, the King and his son got down from their truck and started the long walk down to the village. Moving down the road, they saw signs that the village was working on the things that villagers everywhere did during the long winter months to prepare for spring planting. It was a peaceful place, and Billy hoped that never changed for the locals.

The pair strolled up to the small house their quarry lived in to find the woman herself out front doing her laundry in a pair of blue shorts and a pale-yellow, backless top over her mouth-watering knockers. Billy couldn't help looking her over as they approached. That top was seriously sexy, with just a couple of spaghetti-straps up top and around the back, holding it in place against the mass of those heavy boobies. He could have watched her for hours, but they were here for business.

"Hey," Finn greeted her. The tall girl spun about, making those big knobs joggle in a way that left Billy's mouth dry. The chill of the air and the water that had splashed on her while she was working had the front of her top wet and her thick nips standing proud. Billy had to tear his eyes away from them. Looking at her like a piece of meat wasn't going to help them win her over. In wary tones, she asked, "what're you doing here?" "Need to talk," Finn said. "We'll wait out here until you're a little more presentable." Her face went hot. Billy was continually amazed at how smooth his dad was with things like that. The tit-man himself could look a girl, who was built like that, in the eye as if they were just talking about the weather.

"Alright," she muttered, as she turned to go inside. Round butt wig-wagging, the nine-tailed fox went into the little cottage, leaving Billy and his dad standing outside waiting. "At least she didn't hurl spells at us," Billy murmured. Finn nodded. The big man's eyes were wandering around, almost as if he were searching for something. This whole business had been a bit of a mystery for Billy, but it had been very critical for Finn. He'd come out of the isolation lab and immediately started making calls to set this trip up. It said something about just how important the business was that a long-range airship had been diverted to come pick them up.

Katsumi came to the door in a dress, motioning for the pair to come in. Billy took the lead. He was a wizard. He could contend with this woman if it came down to that. The last thing he wanted was for his dad to be forced to use the Quicksilver Curse. The witch motioned for the pair to sit down at her small table. "I'm pleased to see you're well," Finn offered, as he took a seat. "I'm not going to kill you," Katsumi rumbled, when Billy remained standing. "If I was going to attack you, I'd have already done it." "I'm good," Billy replied. "Suit yourself," she said, as she sat down. Her house. She was going to sit.

"Why did you come," she asked? "We're going to the former city of Yakutsk," Finn said. With a shrug, she said, "and?" "_We_ are going to Yakutsk," Finn clarified. That lovely face curled into a frown. Slowly and softly, she said, "what makes you think I would go anywhere with you?" It was the tone of someone very dangerous marking out boundaries for people she respected. "Because I'm King of the World, Your Highness," said Finn, "but also because I'm asking you to attend a very important meeting with the one other person who has the knowledge I seek... and because you're curious..."

The pale woman's face went red and then even paler than before. She clearly didn't like that this strange man could read her so well. "Every Royal guards something," Finn murmured. "Bits and pieces of the ancient world that are still dangerous even after being buried for centuries." "Oh," growled the kitsune, "and what do _you_ guard?" "I guard the guardians," Finn retorted, quick as that. Her face went red hot at the unhappy memory. He'd kept one of her wayward villagers from murdering her. "I'm the man who keeps hell in the ground," Finn murmured, "but I don't know all the plots where it might spring up again. I need your help..."

In dismissive tones, she said, "well, Your Majesty, I'm afraid you've come to the _wrong_ place. I _can't_ help you. I can't leave this village. The trip through the mountains to Fengdu is about as far as I can go. I'm compelled..." "...by your pact," Finn agreed. He'd been studying up on her kind. The King drew a device out of his pocket that looked suspiciously like the ancient satellite phone that sat under her panties gathering dust. Tapping a few keys, the big man brought the phone–for clearly that was what it was–to his ear and said, "execute..."

Moments later, she heard the long-forgotten roar of jet engines overhead. Her face showed she was curious and maybe a little frightened. Her mouth stayed stubbornly shut. She wasn't going to bite. She wasn't going to ask. Billy found himself silently urging her to speak. Rising, the King motioned for her to accompany him outside. Taking a breath, the tall woman finally did. Outside, there were Grid-Face people who'd just dropped in from the airship hovering above, and they were carrying what was clearly electronics.

She'd heard rumors of technology in the outside world. Clearly some of the things the villagers traded for had been made with bits and pieces of lost tech from long ago times. She'd hardly imagined that something like this existed. "You've been isolated a while," Finn said. "Not everything was lost, and we're finding new things every day." "Some of those things were better left buried," she murmured. "Yes," he agreed. Moving on, he said, "these men are going to erect a barrier around the village. Nobody will be able to attack this place while you're gone." Her jaw dropped. "I need your help, Your Highness," said the King. "It's help only you and Talia can give me. Please."

**Finn makes the Nine-Tailed-Fox and offer she can't refuse. Olesia and Hamest have a heart-to-heart, and Billy scores some princess. What could go wrong with that?**


	28. Chapter 28

Chapter 28:

She was up again.

The kitsune had been up and down through much of the flight–repeatedly going to the window of the cabin to look out, even though there was little to see but clouds. She'd done it so much, Drew wanted to check her out. As she returned to her seat once more, the doctor opened her mouth to speak, but Finn got there first. "Memories," asked the King of Ooo? Dropping into a seat, the witch-woman muttered, "I flew on an airlifter like this to get to Shiyan village." The Chinese government had flown her there on a copy of the very aircraft they were riding on now. It was much like the airplane her half-brother had flown in the United States Air Force. There were a lot of memories here, and she wasn't happy to be re-experiencing any of them.

The airship dropped out of the cloudy sky over the forgotten city of Yakutsk in the middle of the afternoon after flying much of the night and a fair chunk of the day. The city was utterly smashed, and Katsumi stood there fighting tears at the sight. She'd heard the radio reports. An American missile had flattened the town and killed all the inhabitants. Her friend–the woman she'd worked with and struggled with and fought with–had gone up in smoke.

Only she hadn't. Somehow, Talia was still alive.

The aircraft came in for a hover, hunting up a good spot to land on the cracked and broken concrete of the forgotten airport. As the engines spooled down, the crew went through the process of unlatching and opening one of the side doors. Katsumi was all but pacing while they waited for the crew to finish. Indeed, as the door touched down, she all but shoved the crew out of the way. Just as Finn had expected, Talia was there waiting on them. The kitsune had barely taken a step towards her, when Drew shouted, "_stop_!"

Everybody present stared as the tall doctor brushed past the witch-woman. Drew strode straight up to Baba Yaga and immediately shoved a thermometer in the rusalka's face. "Ok, what gives," Talia burbled around that glass instrument? "You were on Zombie Island," Drew replied. "I was irritated with my husband for not bringing you back to be examined." Finn's protestations that Talia was a nature-spirit had fallen on implacably deaf ears. Drew wasn't going to be comfortable with the ending of the whole business until she was certain that none of the four principals was infected. Finn's eyes told the witch-woman 'go along to get along'.

At Drew's instruction, a tent got set up and the witch brought inside. As Finn stood near the door, doing his best to be a soothing presence, Baba Yaga got her first medical checkup in over a thousand years. "Do you do this at home," growled the witch? "Yeah, she does," Finn confirmed, earning him a glare from Drew. As Finn stood calmly watching, the humiliated witch got bent over, spun around, poked, and prodded. An irritated Drew suggested the big man shove off. "I've already seen it," Finn opined, earning a glare from Talia as well. The rusalka's eyes got big as plates, though, when Drew brought out the syringes, and she drew the line at that.

"Your body temperature is low," Drew remarked. "Something's wrong with you." "My temperature is _normal_," the rusalka retorted. "Your _normal_ temperature is _ninety-two_," Drew demanded? "That's getting towards hypothermic..." "She spends a lot of her time in icy-water, Doc," Finn said. "You've done what you came to do..." It was a polite and gentle way of telling her to put a sock in it." "Just one," she insisted. As Baba Yaga glared at her, the pushy doctor drew a syringe full of blood before packing her gear away.

With a bounce to her step, the pretty doctor strolled across the broken tarmac to the airship. She was happy. Rubbing at her arm, the witch was anything but. "Now that that's out of the way, gigolo, why did you come here," Baba Yaga demanded? "First thing's first," Finn said, as he stood aside and pulled Katsumi in front of him. "I thought you were _dead_," Katsumi howled! With a shrug, Talia replied, "thought much the same about you when the bombs started flying." The nine-tailed-fox took one step... two. And then she threw her long arms around her long-lost frenemy, hugging her as the pair cried bitter tears.

Far away from that bitter reunion, an equally world-shaking event was just getting underway. The jungles were alive with the rumble and roar of machines. The sounds of animated voices filled the air as hundreds of slaves were whipped relentlessly to complete preparations for an event not seen in centuries. The massive vessels on the hill were filled to the brim with thousands of gallons of dangerously combustible fluids. The precious fluids had been provisioned by a stream of ships from across the sea, telling the imprisoned locals that their conqueror had power and money to enforce her will–maybe even to contest control of Coca-Kingdom.

On the far side of the site, in a stonework bunker named the 'Hellcave' by the natives, the author of the slaves' suffering watched the clock with one eye and the terrified occupants of her lair with the other. The tall woman was pacing again. She was pacing, and the captive scientists were very nervous. Seemingly always on the ragged edge of violence, she was particularly on edge today. Today was the day. They were going to make a splash–literally–by launching their first rocket. It was time to get the King of Ooo's attention in a really spectacular way. Of course, if the evil ogress was feeling the pressure, her captives were feeling it even more.

The cost of failure had been made abundantly clear. It was death for anyone who caused this attempt to fail. The unofficial leader of the kidnapped scientists glanced down at the ancient electrical panel and offered a prayer to glob. He knew the risk, and he was utterly certain they were going to be slaughtered. The machine on the launch pad was _massive_. It was a massive construct of steel, filled with an ocean of alcohol fuel and peroxide oxidizer.

And that was the problem. It was much too heavy to fly. Certainly it would never attain the range their captor sought, but James Starchman feared it would never leave the ground. If it failed particularly badly, it would kill them all. The little pastry thought of his happy little family in the Candy Kingdom, wondering if he'd see them again. "You there," snapped the ogress! "Where are we at?!" Glancing back down at his gauges, the candy-person replied, "the tanks are full. We are ready to remove the service tower." Turning to one of her runners, the ogress snarled, "make it so!"

The business moved quickly then. Slaves got whipped into action, bodily hauling on the heavy steel structure with drag ropes. Slowly at first, then with increasing speed, they hauled that mass of machinery away from the tall cylinder with its deadly fuel. When the machinery, supports, and pumps were cleared away, the countdown began. Back in the bunker, the captive scientists began switching on systems, cycling fuel pumps, and engaging primitive computers as the death-rocket slowly came to life there in the jungle. The Bandit Princess could feel the tension slowly melt away as her captives signaled that all was ready.

"Ignition," shouted Mr. Starchman, as he pressed the button on the console. The ground shook, and a terrible roar filled the air–felt more than heard. The ancient site shook with a sound and fury not felt in a thousand years. The Bandit Princess rushed to the bunker's gun-slit window to observe the triumph. The machine was rising! At the same time, it seemed much slower than the first one. And then the machine toppled, disassembling itself in a flash of light that burned retinas and left everyone blinded and deafened.

Back in Yakutsk, Billy found himself enjoying Talia's dubious hospitality. The witch was in a bit of a snit, whether from the sudden surprise visit or Drew's poking and prodding. She'd gotten back in her rattle-trap wreck of a car and basically driven off, leaving them with tacit permission to set up shop on _her_ airfield. Finn had put the crew of the airship to work digging in for the night, placing defenses to keep them protected from whatever awful thing might wander in from the wastelands, while an oblivious Drew went up into one of the working spaces on the upper deck to get busy on her analysis of the witch's blood.

Billy had found himself somewhat at loose ends. When Katsumi retired to one of the small cabins, the younger man found himself following, as much out of curiosity as anything else. "Not what these things were built for," she opined, as she laid out bedding on the narrow bed. Staring around him with a frown, the big man admitted, "I don't know a lot about these things. The Grid-Face people scrounged them up... A lot of them were just laying out in fields, rusting away." "There were tens of thousands of airplanes when I was your age," she said. "People flew just for the pleasure of traveling." Billy whistled as he tried to imagine that.

Glancing around him, he said, "you say this thing wasn't built for this..." With a shrug, she said, "the Russian military built this thing to carry soldiers and weapons." Billy's jaw dropped. They'd played around with that, but not at anything like a large scale. Nodding, Katsumi said, "your cyborg friends... have a history, William." Wryly, Billy said, "well, there's a reason they became pacifists I suppose." Katsumi goggled at him. Nodding, the big man said, "won't touch weapons. Even if it kills them." Shocked, the tall woman sat herself on the bunk and stared into space.

Sitting beside her, the big man said, "world changed a lot." Glancing over at his strange new acquaintance, he said, "my stepmom called it hard-won wisdom. My mom calls it a penance. Nadia's ancestors helped wreck the world." "Stepmother," Katsumi murmured? "Princess Nadia, leader of the Grid-Face People," Billy confirmed. "So your parents are divorced," she surmised. Flushing, Billy murmured, "not exactly..." She'd been about to offer sympathy. She came from a broken home herself. Now she stared at him.

Meanwhile, the King of Ooo stood underneath the rusalka's balcony, listening to her playing a haunting melody on the piano that he'd hauled up for her. He could _feel_ the pain in her music. He hadn't wanted to do this to her. At the same time, the world needed them to cooperate to fix this. He wanted, more than anything, to give her some time and space to herself. The world wasn't waiting on them though. Heading inside the building, the big man went to the stairs and began the climb.

Talia could feel the tall man as he made his way up the stairs, and she found herself muttering curses. She didn't want him here. She wanted to be alone. She didn't want to be bothered tonight. Seeing Katsumi–seeing her face-to-face like that–was like seeing the past walking by. It brought back all the pain and everything she'd lost all at one shot. The further he climbed, the angrier she got. Rage wanted to kill him out of hand. She could kill him out of hand just by triggering that terrible burden he carried. She could age him into a pile of mouldering goo in the stairwell. Shame stayed her hand because she knew why he'd come here.

"T," Finn greeted the witch.

Her back was to the door, and her fingers hovered over the keys of the piano. "I didn't want to do this to you," he offered, as he shut her door. The witch began to play again, louder now, as if she was going to drown him out. "We promised we were going to fix this," he said. "I want..." "Why did you fucking bring _her_, here," she snarled?! "Because she's carrying a burden," Finn said, "and because she maybe knows some of the things we don't." Talia stopped playing, banging the cover closed on the keyboard. Her eyes were hot, as she got up. "She knows _something_, T," Finn rumbled. "Bandit-Princess was behind the attack on Shiyan Village. She came back and murdered a bunch of dudes in Fengdu after I left. Maybe it was to silence people. I don't know." The raging witch went silent. Striding forward, the big man hugged his strange friend. In short order, she was crying on his shoulder, letting go a thousand years of grief.

Back at the airfield, a shocked Katsumi sat staring at her strange young friend. A part of her wanted to be horrified by the life he was now leading and the strange _arrangement_ his family had made. Another piece of her was intensely _curious_. His family was tied up in a strange polygamous relationship that was, somehow, keeping the world at peace. He himself was married to _four_ and doing his best to keep a fair chunk of the world from being at each other's throats. But it was just another day. This was just what he did in the world. He wasn't proud or embarrassed or particularly emotional about it.

"I guess I never met a prince," she murmured. Billy frowned at her. "You _are_ a prince," she reminded him. "I don't like to think of myself that way," he said. "I'm... just a dude. Doing a job." That made her laugh. "What," he asked? "You're young and naive," she laughed. "Your father's become comfortable with it, I think." Billy laughed. "That's 'New Finn'..." As the horrified witch stared at him, Billy explained the attempted murder that had caused Nadia to inject his father with some of her nano-machines–and the subsequent personality changes that ensued. "Maybe you need some nano-machines too, William," Katsumi murmured. "You... This isn't going to be easy on you. He's not a wizard. He's not going to live forever. They'll be looking at you..."

The big man's expression turned grim, and it was obvious she wasn't telling him something he didn't already know. He was clearly far south of pleased. He was, like her old self, an idealist. "I don't like that word," he muttered. "You even sound like I did," she chuckled. Turning a little to face him, the strange woman said, "I'm a communist, William. I... People used to call me that, and it made me angry because I thought they were telling me I was naive and stupid." He flinched, as he realized what she was trying to say.

Her expression gone bleak. "I... _was_ naive, kiddo," she said. "I was as naive as you are now. I _admired_ the Chinese and their government. I used to tell people how wonderful they were because the government of China could get things done when they were needed. They could work against global warming. They could kick people out of their cars for the good of society. I glossed over the loss of basic freedoms and tried to explain away a lot of the evils of their government because I was in love with their ideas."

"You sound like Talia," Billy rumbled. Katsumi chuckled. "Yeah, babe, I do," she agreed. "Another Hollywood actress who thought she knew everything. Used to debate her all the time. She was a capitalist, and I was an avowed socialist. When her precious capitalist states started threatening each other, I _gloated_, Bill. I gloated and hit her with the 'I told you so's'. Never had any idea what _my_ side was up to." The words had an edge of warning to them. Billy's blue eyes locked with hers. The nine-tailed-fox couldn't help but notice how pretty his eyes were–the blue of glacial ice.

With a sigh, she said, "you're going to be called on to grow as a man, William. Farther and faster even than you've shown so far. Your father has grown to see just how dangerous every entanglement is when you're responsible for millions of lives. I don't think it was the nanobots that drove him to seek me out. Your father calls himself the guardian of the guardians... Well, he has a point. Remember when you asked me how I came to be in Shiyan? Well, I... A friend of my dad's told him that he'd gotten tasked with retargeting some of their weapons... Shiyan village ended up on the target list. There was a suspected bio-weapons lab there, working on something called the Black Scrawl Virus. They were going to get the lab in any exchange, just to be sure the virus couldn't be released."

Expression turned bleak, the kitsune said, "I went to Shiyan-village... I went there as a human shield with some of my friends. We were going to prevent the American government from launching a bomb at the village." Of course the Americans launched the missile anyway. "And you protected the village from the strike," Billy guessed. Katsumi chuckled humorlessly. "I found out the whole thing was a lie," she said. "The Americans weren't lieing. The lab did exist. And... the villagers were members of the support staff." Billy's jaw came open. With a sigh, Katsumi said, "the lab's still there. It's buried under the cemetery on the south end of town. I... killed all the scientists and discouraged the villagers from ever talking about it. Eventually they forgot."

Billy whistled. It really was true. Pretty much every Royal on Ooo was guarding something awful. He wondered how many even realized what they were guarding. Katsumi glared at him. When he glanced over at her to see why she was angry, he found tears in her eyes. "People I admired and defended were going to spread a plague on all mankind," she sobbed. Where he found fascination, she saw shame and horror at her own actions.

"Y-you didn't know," he reminded her. He knew as he was saying it that it hardly helped. Her mistakes had cost people their lives. It wasn't on the scale of Talia's mistakes, but it was there all the same. The young man took her hand in his, trying his best to comfort and console the inconsolable as the tears fell.

On her side, the feel of his hands around her's was starting to get to her. She was calling him a naive idiot–literally telling him that he needed to grow up–and he was trying to make her feel better all the same. He pushed her buttons–checked every box on the list. Beautiful, manly, and sensitive all at the same time, he was the ideal she'd always searched for. And he was immortal, like her. He would live until the sun went out. A nagging little corner of her mind wanted her to make a play for him, when he was quite happy with what he already had and really didn't need the extra complication. And that deadly emotion had slowly been gaining ground.

She hardly even realized she was leaning towards him until their lips met. Billy found himself giving her back everything she gave him. If Billy checked a lot of her boxes, the reverse was just as true. She was as exotic as JJ had been, but without some of the uglier baggage. He found himself kissing the older woman with all the passion he had, and it was only when he realized he had his hands on her ass that he stopped.

Drawing back, Katsumi gave Billy a look somewhere between panic and utter confusion. "W-why would you let me," she babbled? With a shrug, he said, "I trust you. You... sort of needed that." That was hardly the comfort he expected as now the kitsune began to bawl her eyes out. A shocked Billy tried to calm her, doing his best to talk her down from the emotional crash she was suffering. Unfortunately, the floodgates, once opened, weren't easy to close as she continued to melt down until her makeup was running down her cheeks and her eyes began to turn red. Rushing out to the bathroom, he retrieved a towel and daubed at her face, wondering what he was going to do with this. She looked an utter mess. "I don't deserve that," she wailed. "I don't deserve to be trusted..." "Why," he asked? "You've... Katsumi, listen to me." That finally stopped the meltdown.

Taking her face in his hands, he said, "you're no more guilty of a heinous act than Talia is guilty of destroying the world. You _trusted_ people that you believed in. Those people betrayed _you_. They lied to _you_. My granddad used to say the road to hell is paved with good intentions, but that doesn't damn the intentions. Doing the right thing is never evil, Katsumi. You wanted to protect people from a government you ernestly believed was unjust because you didn't have all the facts. There's no shame in that. The shame lies buried with the liars who put you in that spot."

He believed that. She could see it in his eyes. "You're a naive fool," she muttered. "I'm a fool who watched you fight alongside us to save people's lives and defeat a pack of murderers. That's not the action of an evil woman. You've found your moral compass again. Don't lose it." The tears fell again, slower this time. She was more composed. "Don't go," she whispered. "S-stay. Please."

With every word she spoke, her face drew closer. Eyes closed as their lips met at last, the nine-tailed-fox felt an electric thrill as the strange young man kissed her again. In short order, they were losing themselves in the feel of that, tongues darting, as they explored each other's bodies. He was so _hard_. He was built like a Hollywood Hunk from her forgotten days as an actress. The Ice-Prince's hands stroked her flanks, gliding up and down barely brushing the base of her heaving titties.

She was the perfect that immortality gave you. Frozen in time forever in her late twenties, the kitsune was breathtakingly beautiful. Billy wanted her. How could he _not_ want her? Taking the initiative, the big man reached up and began unbuttoning Katsumi's jacket, baring her chest in a soft camisol. The older woman let him ease the jacket off, and then it got tossed aside, as Billy went for her big boobies.

Those were a gift from her Japanese momma. Her Chinese-American dad had seen Hitomi Tsukuda in a crowd at an animation convention and been instantly smitten. An inveterate tit-man, Mike Tsui had pursued Hitomi with all his passion, never imagining the family secret she was keeping. Billy caressed those heavy-duty knockers reverently, touching them like they might break. His soft caresses sent shivers through her. The fox-girl found herself biting her lip when he bent and kissed the top of those heavy milk-jugs. Her face was flushed when they came up for air. Her blush went all the way down to the top of her breasts. No bra, but those titties were firm as anything. Yeah, being immortal sucked, but at the same time... Damn.

After a moment's pause, Billy reached out and slipped those spaghetti-straps off her shoulders, causing the camisol to slide down, allowing those big boobies to spring free. It was a different experience from the long-ago days of the twenty-first century feminism where boys were demonized for touching without begging first. She was so fucking turned on. When he reached out and began to stroke those heavy boobies, skin on skin–teasing the fat nips, the nine-tailed fox began to moan softly.

The Ice-Prince began to nibble and suck at her neck. Kissing her cheeks and almost seeming to inhale her scent, the big man continued to toy with those big titties. "Ooaaah," Katsumi moaned. She began to whine deep in her throat, as he worked her over. His hand slipped down to her waist, stroking her flat tummy. A corner of her mind wondered. Would he? A twenty-first-century guy was supposed to beg every step of the way. His hand teased her flesh, building anticipation. Would he became when would he.

The big man lay her back on the narrow bunk. His hand stroked her back, as he went for those big knockers, licking and sucking at them. He had a way of nipping at them with his sharp teeth that would make her squeal. Her head thrashed back and forth, and her fingers clawed at his shoulders and at the sheets. Somewhere in the middle of the frantic caresses and touching, she vaguely felt the button above her tails pop open. How did he know about that? The question went unanswered as the big man unbuttoned the front of her pants too. And then he started peeling the tight, white pants with their damp spot down off her long, lean legs.

As Katsumi lay there panting, the big man sniffed the damp spot insistently before the pants got tossed aside too. Reaching out, he untied the skimpy little panties she wore. A lot like JJ, he realized, probably because of the tails. "Want some of that," he murmured, as he dove into her hot snatch. "Aaaaaaaggggh," wailed the slim sexpot. Her hips jumped, and she clawed at his scalp. "You... You don't have to...," she moaned, but Billy wasn't really listening.

The younger man teased her hot snatch with his tongue, getting her hotter and hotter, tormenting her joy-button. It wasn't the first time she'd had a guy go down on her, but she'd never gotten such expert treatment. But he had four wives and a girlfriend. That was the twisted thing. He had five women getting this treatment. He got plenty of practice. Expertly, the big man got her off again and again, making her squirm and writhe on the bed. "Oooaaaaaaa," wailed the fox-girl, her body practically vibrating. She was soaked with sweat when he quit.

Mouth hanging open, Katsumi stared up at him. "I-I want it," she murmured. Reaching up, she pulled on his shirt. Straightening, Billy stood up and began shedding clothes. Katsumi licked her lips in hunger as that beautiful body came into view. A corner of her mind imagined his dad looked like this at the same age. He was shockingly beautiful for a man of his age. She would have had to admit she had a hunger for both men. They were everything she'd fantasized about for the last few hundred years alone in a village full of people who were terrified of her. Her mouth came open in shock when that huge cock came free of his pants.

Climbing back onto the bed, the big man leaned down to kiss her once more. The older woman grabbed that big dick and aimed it at her horny pussy. "Aaaaaaaagggh," she wailed as the big thing slid in. Her hands clawed at his back, her sharp nails tearing bits of meat out of his skin. Down the hall, Dr. Drusilla Princess looked up in annoyance from her work. That boy. She'd thought he was learning not to stick his pecker in dangerous places. _Hope he wrapped it up,_ he thought. Reaching for some ear plugs, the tall doctor went back to the microscope.

The screaming went on for well over half an hour as her stepson screwed the shit out of Finn's mystery-girl. Drew faced down the intractable problem of just what the hell was in the witch-woman's blood. There were strange cells and structures that she'd never seen before and levels of strange bacteria that she would have considered _lethal_ for a normal person. Nadia had speculated that the strange contents of Talia's blood worked a lot like the nano-machines in her own blood–keeping the witch alive in the face of some pretty horrendous experiences.

Down the hall, Billy lay on his back with Katsumi snuggled in against him in well-satisfied contentment. Stroking her lower back, Billy's fingers came in contact with the base of her tails, causing her to shiver. "Did any of your boyfriends ever," her burbled? Katsumi chuckled. "Nope," she sighed. "I was too young. You don't get a tail until you're almost fifty. The only way to get this many tails is to make a Soul Pact. I... I traded my soul for the safety of Shiyan. I'm stuck..." "In limbo," Billy howled, as he sat up? Sitting up beside him, Katsumi gave him a bleak expression. "I'm shackled to the village until the sun goes out," she admitted. Far from horrifying him, that seemed to arouse an ernest pity. Slipping his arms around her, he held her tight against him, rocking with her, while she gave vent to a thousand years of grief.

"I understand," he whispered. "I understand you." Stroking her shoulder-length, red-orange hair, the big man kissed away the tears. "My half-brother is cursed to be Lord of Vampires," Billy murmured. "He's cursed as his momma was cursed before him." Katsumi stared at him. "Marceline stood up for the last pocket of humans alive on earth," Billy explained. "The Vampire King and his host were preying on them, slowly picking them off. Marceline... Marcie's the Anti-Christ. She didn't know it at the time, but she was born the Anti-Christ–to submerge the world in darkness. Only the world ended first. With nobody to guide her, she grew up hard, but she was–and is–a basically kind person. She fought the vampires with the strength of the devil, and she beat them to a standstill. Trouble was, the joke was kind of on her. As she struck the last blow on the Vampire King, he managed to bite her and pass his curse on to her." And she'd passed that ugly legacy to her son.

The big man lay back, drawing the witch-woman down against him. For a wonder, she let him. Drawing the covers up over them, Billy said, "my sister likes to say that we're the family that fixes things. We're up to our elbows in the drama, trying to make things right. I promise you this... we're going to figure out a way to get rid of that lab and every other ugly thing on Ooo." He sounded so confident and sincere _she_ wanted to believe it, when she'd long ago lost her capacity to believe in anything. Instead of arguing about that, the kitsune shut him up with her lips. There were other things she wanted from him than promises right now.

**Katsumi comes clean about the secret of Shiyan village. The Bandit Princess suffers a MAJOR setback. And Billy bags himself a fox.**


	29. Chapter 29

Chapter 29:

"Somebody got laid," Talia murmured, as Katsumi came striding up out of the early morning sunlight with Billy in tow. Finn flushed to his hair. The kitsune was walking funny–rather like somebody had worn the pussy out last night. He'd repeatedly warned his son about the consequences of screwing around with women like the witch. While it was often difficult to avoid these little entanglements–and escape with your balls intact–this was certainly not the time to be rolling the dice. They had a mission to finish, and the two women were both prickly as prickly got. Indeed, Talia, in typically cunty fashion, set the tone for the discussion by asking, "did you get good sleep, Katsumi?" With a glance at Finn, the kitsune retorted, "fine, thanks. And you?" "Not that kind of deal," Finn rumbled. "Let's go in and talk..."

Far to the east, the Bandit Princess sat in her bunker facing down catastrophe. She'd lost hundreds of slaves and dozens of guards last night–all simply blown up when the rocket exploded. The devastation was... _incredible_. "The rocket is completely destroyed, Your Highness," Mr. Starchman declared. He didn't say, "I told you so." He was still breathing and wanted to stay that way. Nodding, Peihong rumbled, "you warned me. Now what would it take to build the thing correctly?" With a heavy-hearted sigh, Jim Starchman admitted, "_years_, Your Highness. Princess Blargetha is a genius among geniuses. It would take me years to duplicate what she did, much less improve it. You'd have better luck stealing an airship to deliver your weapon." "I still have money," she growled. "But what you need is _time_," the egghead retorted. She laughed. She actually laughed. That was the one thing she _didn't_ have.

"I set you one last task," she said. "Complete it, and you'll be freed. You said you could build an airship with the materials I still have. Build that ship for me, and you'll have your freedom." "I'll do my best," he agreed. The ogress motioned for him to be taken away. She needed to think. The rocket had been her best hope of having a weapon to cow Finn the Human, and now it was gone and her hopes with it. It was starting to look like the time for desperate measures.

As the Bandit Princess contemplated her mortality, the Finn crew was down deep in an ugly discussion of fear, betrayal, and accusation. In spite of Finn's outreach, Baba Yaga was refusing to talk peacefully. She'd insisted on going back to old grudges and adding new ones to the mix. Thankfully, in spite of the provocations, the guardian spirit of Shiyan had refused the bait.

"Talia," Katsumi interrupted. "Listen. We're at the confluence of something..." The raging nature-spirit finally stopped her shouting. "When I was growing up," Katsumi said, "my grandfather used to tell me that everything happens for a purpose. It's the universe's way of restoring itself. There's a _reason_ we found each other again. There's a reason things are happening now." Talia's mouth shut with a click. The rusalka was listening now.

"I don't know what it is," Katsumi murmured, "but something big's coming. Something on the scale of the War." "Aliens have come back twice to try and finish what they started," Finn remarked. "Could they be coming again?" "Maybe," Talia rumbled. She was clearly intrigued–and _troubled_–by Katsumi's words. The rusalka turned and stared out at the dead expanse of Yakutsk. Her grand failure. Coming up alongside her, Katsumi said, "you have to let go, Talia. We both have to let go. The universe has given us a second chance. To make things right. Let's not squander it."

Her best frenemy turned to face the kitsune, wearing her pain like a coat. Katsumi had done a lot to poison their relationship, and she knew it. Taking a deep breath, Katsumi said, "I'm the guardian of an ugly piece of alien science... something called the Black Scrawl Virus." Talia's head whipped up so fast it gave _Billy_ a stiff neck. Nodding, the kitsune explained, "your Russians weren't the only ones contacted, Talia. They contacted everybody. The Chinese, the Russians, the Americans... They gave everybody _something_. They gave them all a deadly puzzle piece that could make the world a better place..." "Or destroy it utterly...," Talia mumbled.

With a sigh, Katsumi explained, "they gave China the key to humanity's genetic code... all the secrets hidden in our DNA... right down to the genetic quirks that made you and I. They gave them the knowledge to modify viruses as a delivery method for their changes." The Chinese had done exactly what the aliens expected. Oh, they'd researched cures for cancer and other maladies, but it had been a cover for insidious experiments with terrible biological weapons targeted to wipe out only specific portions of the human race. "The Black Scrawl Virus was intended to wipe out every human with Caucasian or African features in his genome," Katsumi mumbled.

Talia laughed. She began laughing, and she kept on going as if she might never stop. It frankly irritated Billy, until his father uttered the punchline. "They wouldn't have had any more idea how to control that than Rose was able to control her zombie virus," the King of Ooo muttered. "With the aliens pulling the strings, they probably would have wiped themselves out and had no idea how it happened." It was heavy, _heavy_ stuff. Not just the _bomb_. There had likely been _multiple_ doomsday weapons floating around, unseen. Billy was horrified to realize how close the world had come–and still was–to ending.

"My name–my true name–is Kristina Katsumi Tsui," Katsumi murmured. "I've carried this secret a thousand years..." Nodding, Talia grabbed her by the arm and dragged her towards the door. Finn and Billy fell in behind as Baba Yaga dragged her fellow witch out the door and down the hall to her elevator. Talia took them to her battered car and motioned for them all to pile in. Almost before the trio had settled themselves, the nature-spirit roared off in a cloud of tire-smoke.

She'd always been a madwoman behind the wheel. Katsumi remembered that as clear as day. Talia had racked up tickets with a frequency that shocked her agent. Lambos and Mclarens and hot-rod Mercedes sedans. Natalia Orlova had been in near-constant trouble with the law. She'd had her license revoked twice. At the same time, the kitsune found a strange comfort in the familiar feeling of a fast car under her ass with Talia in the driver's seat. As the rusalka took the turns at terrifying speeds, the nine-tailed-fox shouted, "where do you get the fuel?" "Fermented yak milk," Talia shouted back. She drank almost as much as she put in her car. In the back seat, Finn groaned. He'd caught the witch having a snort of _something_ that morning. That halfway explained her cunty behavior. _Figures, she's a mean drunk,_ he thought.

The witch drove them out of town to a familiar site nestled in a forgotten forest by the same river where Finn had met her. He could _see_ the signs now. Like Rose's lair, this place had once been a military camp. Talia drove them up to the entrance of a vine-covered hangar, fumbling the key off, as her visitors piled out of the car.

There in the darkness sat a massive steel cylinder. Katsumi found herself _drawn_ to it. She caught herself from reaching out to touch it. "My toy," Talia muttered. Katsumi goggled at the sheer _size_ of the thing. "We Russians... we don't fuck around, eh," declared Baba Yaga. "A bomb," Finn sighed, "big enough to smash the world. Twin to the one that already did." The kitsune stared at him. "We've been hiding it from the world for the last few years," Finn said. "The Lich... figured it out. He tried for it before we took him down." Now she truly understood. He really was the Guardian of the Guardians. It made sense. "What're we doing now," she sighed? "If what you're saying is true, this Bandit Princess is taking up where he left off, and there's no telling who or what might be behind _her_."

"We're going to get rid of them all," Talia declared. She hadn't seen the truth of things, honestly. She'd been here in this hellscape, and she'd been obsessed with the horror that she guarded. She'd been so locked into that daily grind, that she'd never, in a thousand years, thought beyond tomorrow. Finn had shown her the way. Standing in the hell that was Rebirth Island, he'd shown her the way forward. It all had to go. Every ugly secret had to be exposed and destroyed. Turning to Katsumi, she said, "we need to plan, Kat, but we need to get you home first. If your virus is anything like Timoshenko's masterpiece, we need to take steps to get rid of it first." That would free _one_ of them to act. "I'll hit up my girls," Finn said. "I'll see if we can come up with a way to destroy the lab without making a mess."

As the King of Ooo made plans with his new allies, far to the west, the Queen Bee awoke to an all-too-familiar sight. Barton was gone. He was gone from bed. He'd been doing that more and more lately. She'd chalked it up to the out-and-out hatred that had seemed to spring up between them. Why would you want the presence of somebody you hated in bed next to you? At the same time, they had been sharing this bed a long thirty years. Why leave _now_? They'd never been lovers and not exactly _friends_ either, but he'd lain there beside her–keeping up appearances–for thirty years now. Why the change?

Her mind wanted to conjure mistakes _she'd_ made. She'd... thrown herself at Finn. Finn had shut the whole business down. Finn had been careful of her reputation. Finn had, as always, looked after the woman, even at cost to himself. Barton had no reason to suspect anything. Even his spies had nothing to report. Breezy was doing the council's bidding and no more. So where was he?

Rising, the Queen Bee gathered on a robe over her naked body–a body Finn _still_ found thrilling when Barton had repeatedly called her out saying her tits were sagging. Her hair was losing its color. Her butt was getting fatter. He had a hundred nasty things to say about her, and Breezy was tired of this hideous grind. She halfway wanted to abdicate for Aerwin to get away. She would gleefully have left the Kingdom, never to return, if she didn't fear what the resulting blowback would do to her kids.

Aerwin was already on the block–the sacrificial piece of meat meant to take her place in the far-future when Breezy died or stepped down. They were already dictating how Aerwin could live her life–where she could go and who she could go with. Naome was not far behind, with the council eyeing people to marry her to in the name of peace. Ariadne was destined to be married into a hive over the seas in the west. Only Penelle was in any position to control her fate, and she was maneuvering to choose a fate that benefitted _her_ rather than her people.

Slipping on some shoes, Breezy slipped out into the hall of the Royal Suite. Penelle, strangely, was an example here. Instead of passively taking what the council dished out, Penelle was doing her best to take control of her life. Maybe it was time her mother did the same. Barton controlled her because she _let_ him. She was Queen, but she let her consort do as he wanted, with her picking up the tab. She lay herself down in that cold bed, while _he_ was rumored to be having affairs.

Making her way down the hall, the Queen Bee listened to the sounds of the palace around her. This wasn't really the time for this. Finn, Simone, and Cherry were due any day now to witness Aerwin's wedding. Simone was supposed to officiate. She was risking a lot. At the same time, why should she wait. She'd been waiting to be rid of Barton for thirty years. If he was choosing to act an ass–to let everybody see his affairs and bad behavior–why should she let him get away with it.

The sounds came to her sensitive ears from the end of the hall. The stairs were there. She'd been overhearing palace gossip for _weeks_. Barton went to the former nursery upstairs to meet with his illicit lovers. They would fly in from other parts of the palace and meet with him in the nursery. Breezy, having raised her children damned near to adulthood, never went there anymore, so it made a good place to meet the assorted whores and hangers-on that would sleep with a married man.

She had to be careful. The wooden stairs in the palace were prone to making noise, but the stairway was too confined for flying. Stepping carefully, the sexy honey-bee slipped up the stairs to the top floor. The sounds were growing louder. Clearly she hadn't been heard. Heart pounding, she found herself wanting to daydream of being rid of Barton at last as she slipped over to the door. Peering inside, the Queen Bee got the shock of her life.

Barton. On top of Ariadne's best friend.

The Queen's mind screamed! This girl was only _twelve_! "Alarm," Breezy shouted! Barton looked up from what he was doing, as his idiot wife shouted. "Alarm," Breezy howled! "Guards!" Six men came striding into the space from the former children's deck outside. They came armed with spears and had clubs tucked into their belts. The Queen waited for them to rush in to arrest her husband, but none of the six moved a muscle, and Bart continued to do just what he was doing. "W-what're you waiting for," she howled?! "Arrest him!" Far from arresting the disgusting molester, the guards moved on their queen!

One guard struck her across her right arm, causing the arm to go numb and taking her weapon out of the fight. Another guard shoved a rag in her mouth with practiced ease. These six men had been procuring little whores for their master for months, and it was always good not to have the little dears scream too much. As one of his mates threw a bag over the Queen's head, the first guard wrapped a heavy leather bag around both her hands, tying them off above her wrists, ensuring she wouldn't be stinging anyone. "Goodbye," Bart told his soon-to-be ex-wife, as his loyal guards hauled her out onto the deck to take her away. Maybe now the Bandit Princess would get off his back. With an evil grin, he returned to what he'd been doing.

The airship transporting the King of Ooo and his unhappy guest returned to Shiyan village at four in the afternoon. The village looked much the same as it always had. Just as the King had promised. Guardian of the Guardians. With the King and his son in tow, Katsumi walked up onto the front porch of her house. It felt eerie to be here now. Maybe it was seeing Talia. Maybe it was the certain knowledge that she had a world-shaking problem on her hands and was a thousand years behind in getting it solved.

"I'll be leaving some people here to help you," Finn said. His eyes said it. She wasn't alone with this burden anymore. "Ok," she said. As the King turned to go, Drew suddenly announced, "I'll be staying a few days..." Knowing exactly what she was up to, Finn rolled his eyes. She just did not know when to quit. "One day," Finn sternly told her. Drew's mouth came open, but the big man's face was implacable. "One day," she sighed. The King turned to go, telling Billy, "look after the doctor, please..." Billy, who's eyes had been on the kitsune, babbled, "uh, yeah... Sure..."

Finn headed out, boarding a truck for the long ride back to Sakura's place. Standing next to his stepmom, Billy watched the truck carrying his dad roll out of that place.

"Time for a checkup," Drew announced. Katsumi stared at her. "You've been in this village for a thousand years with nobody looking after you," the doctor remarked. Billy murmured, 'go along...' Taking the nine-tailed-fox by the arm, the pretty doctor led her inside, shutting the door in Billy's face.

Matters began with the familiar, with the doctor listening to the kitsune's heart and lungs before literally moving south. The focus of the doctor's examination soon had the kitsune feeling irritable. "Is there some point to this," she demanded? "If you're fucking my stepson, it matters to me," Drew growled. The witch's face went red hot. Yeah, screwing half the night on an airplane with tissue-paper walls was probably not her finest idea. "No nasty diseases," Drew confirmed, as she straightened. "Are you fertile...?" Katsumi's face went redder if anything–telling Drew all she needed to know. She'd... fucked some strange guy _raw_ in the middle of her cycle. "Well, most women don't get pregnant so easily," said the doctor, though she didn't really sound convinced herself.

The doctor insisted on having a couple-three vials of blood, and Katsumi couldn't help but think that Talia's reputation for smashing offensive little twats–along with Finn the Human flying top-cover for her–let the rusalka get away without getting drained by this vampire. But Drew was already moving on, firing a battery of questions at her pretty patient. Katsumi groaned when the impudent witch started asking how often she did breast exams. Why did Finn have to leave _now_?!

Finn, meanwhile, had his mind on other matters. Blanca's people were reporting some kind of explosion on the eastern end of her kingdom. Blanca had called off her war with Tequila Princess, but she had to march her dudes a few hundred miles through the jungle to get home. He'd warned her. Now he feared her kingdom's Secret had fallen into Bandit Princess's hands. It was a greatly troubled Finn that rolled into Truth Field Princess's compound late that night. Dinner had been a sketchy box of dim-sum by the side of the road. It had been such a wretched meal that his food-taster only ate a _quarter_ of his supper.

He didn't see Sakura upon his return. He wasn't sure if she were ducking him or what was going on there, but his mind was on other matters. There were possibly dozens of weapons of the caliber of the Mother Bomb or Black Scrawl Virus floating around on Ooo. The longevity of the bomb itself terrified him. He was at once _awed_ and terrified that the bomb was still there–still working. On the flipside of the coin, he was terrified of the alternative. What if one day it just 'stopped working'? What if it just blew up one day? Indeed, what had kept the Black Scrawl Virus in check all these long years? He couldn't help a fear of what it could do to the people of Ooo. The Zombie Virus had spread like wildfire, killing people by the tens of thousands.

The King of Ooo laid himself down after doing his best to work for a while and found sleep came no easier. His overwrought mind kept going back to the question. What were the other evil gifts from the aliens? What else was out there? Could any of it top the Mother Bomb? The Black Scrawl Virus came very fucking close. A virus basically made to kill the human race. The idea horrified him.

In the end, it was his miserable dinner that got he King out of bed late that night. Heading out to the toilet, the big man jettisoned the stomach-full of misery that had woke him up. As he was headed back to his room to sleep, he was startled to find Sakura there in the hallway. "Oh, hey, Finn," she greeted him with a nervous titter. Taking a chance, the big man said, "hey, Sakura. I'm... I wanted to apologize for being kind of a dick last time I saw you..." The Truth Field Princess flushed to her hair. She was _caught_! She was out here, outside his son's bedroom, looking to score some dick. On his side, Finn couldn't help but compare the thoughts of his long-time friend to the thoughts of her evil ancestors. Sakura wanted to bring new life into the world, not destroy it for pride's sake.

"I... Uh... it's ok," she stammered. Grabbing her long ponytail, the big man pulled her face to his and gave the Truth Field Princess a scorcher of a kiss. "F-finn," she gasped! "W-what's gotten into you?" "Thought about it," he said, as he stroked her pretty face. "I didn't intend to make a kid with Sheila, but that's water under the bridge. You were honest about what you wanted. It isn't fair to treat you worse than somebody who stole from me. So. Same deal as Sheila. We split the year, half-and-half. No strings." Sakura's jaw hung. She simply didn't know what to say. Taking her by the wrists, Finn dragged her towards his bedroom.

Meanwhile, in Lizard Kingdom, Lina Yuvchenko slipped into the quarters provided for Olesia's sister to check up on the miserable little bitch to find her _problem_ still laying in bed. She was sulking. Marysia was humiliated that she'd gotten drubbed by a bunch of 'flesh-creatures', angry that Lina knew about it, and sulking because there was no way to turn the whole mess around to her advantage. Not that Lina particularly cared. She had her answer. The phantom army was no army at all. That news had let her start work on blazing a trail up to the site where Olesia and Billy had left the majority of the stone they'd quarried.

Billy had slid tons of the stuff down the mountain. That stone was going to be the basis of the new wall. She still needed materials to make cement, but cement was a lot easier to transport than massive slabs of cut stone. All they had to do was get the stone _here_. It would have been a tall order in the spring, but spring was still weeks away. Reaching into the fireplace, even as she observed the strange entropy-reversing force-field that sprang to life around her hand, the cyborg genius snatched the young girl out of her blankets.

An angry Marysia cussed her, hurling swear-words right up until the necklace around her throat threw her to the ground at Lina's feet. Rolling her eyes–the little bitch had yet to learn that her brother's 'magic' was still effective long after he'd gone–Lina jerked Marysia to her feet and marched her to the stone bench and table. It wasn't the plush cushions in Hamest's suite, but she wasn't going to be at risk of burning down the palace. More to the point, Lina had told the Prime Minister to summon the Lizard Princess home. It was time to get down to the business of protecting her people. Clearly, Hamest would be irritated to find this freeloader in her quarters.

As the morose elemental sat sniffling, Lina slipped an asbestos blanket over her quivering shoulders. It was mostly for the show. The little bitch was shockingly resilient. Most of the wounds were already gone. She was back to eating like an anorexic–practically starving herself. At least she would have, if Lina was at all interested in her airs. "When is Olesia coming back," she suddenly demanded? Lina was at the coal-bin, retrieving her dinner. "When her business in the Candy Kingdom is concluded," the cyborg retorted. Masia mocked the witch under her breath.

"I-I want to go home," she said, as Lina returned with the miserable dinner she was given here. "You're in service to the Crown of Ooo," Lina said, as she put the plate down. "Ask your brother what happens to deserters." The girl's eyes got big as plates, and Lina barely checked herself from howling laughter. "We'll look you over in the morning," said the cyborg, as she turned to go. On the far side of the door, Lina heard the plate slam into the wooden door, and then a heavy thump and muttered curses as the little bitch got her just comeuppance for throwing away food. In a world that was in the midst of famine, that was sacrilege, and clearly her brother felt the same way.

**And the struggle for work/life balance continues in the story and in real life as Finn goes to the well to help a friend one more time, and Kat realizes that she may have fucked up. Meanwhile, Bandit Princess discovers that Apollo wasn't built in a day, and it's a lot harder to threaten the world than it first appears. Wonder what those desperate measures are going to be?**


	30. Chapter 30

Chapter 30:

"I-I understand," stammered the Lizard Princess.

Olesia listened in silence as the Lizard Princess's conversation continued. They had been planning to go out together to buy some nice things to welcome Billy home. Olesia had finally convinced the older woman to learn how to cook, and Hamest had been excited about the idea of making Billy a home-cooked dinner to welcome him back from the far east. The whole business had gotten stopped in its tracks when the phone rang.

Olesia could _see_ the distress on her strange new friend's face as that conversation rolled onwards towards its conclusion. The young elemental knew instinctively what that was about. She had to go home. Billy had been pretty pissed when he saw that not much had gotten done to improve the defenses of Hamest's homeland. He'd not been shy about admonishing her to _fix things_. If she stayed here, when the builders were on-hand in her city, he might well wring her neck!

Olesia moved in immediately when Hamest hung up the phone, wrapping her arms around the older woman's thin shoulders. "I-I have to go," stammered the Lizard Princess. Far from gloating, Olesia told her, "do what needs doing. Your place will still be here, waiting on you to return." The Lizard Princess flushed, her skin going deep-purple down to her chest. "We're two of a kind," the elemental chuckled. "On the outside and looking at long odds. I'll tell him what happened. It'll be fine."

The lizard-girl hugged her gingerly. Olesia returned that embrace. Taking Hamest by the hand, the plump girl led her back into her bedroom and helped her gather up her things. As they worked, the lizard-person see-sawed between shame and despair. With all she'd said, this girl still wanted to help her. This young woman had sacrificed a family heirloom to help her people. "I'm going to get it back," said the Lizard Princess. Olesia's face snapped up from where she'd been helping the older woman pack her dresses into a bag. The plump girl's face went hot as she realized what Hamest meant. "She's a rotten little bitch," muttered Olesia. "If she thinks it's worth something to you, she'd just try to rob you." Zipping the bag up, Hamest looked her dead in the eye and said, "I have my ways, Olesia Okonski. You're young, yet. Just you watch."

Hefting the bag with her personal items, the Lizard Princess leaned in and kissed her young friend's cheek. "She doesn't deserve to have it," said the princess. Turning to go, she said, "give him my love. I'll see you... when I can." And then she was gone, headed out to arrange a flight home. It was only minutes later that a swarm of the household servants arrived and carried off the rest of her things, leaving Olesia alone in a space that had been serving four. The plump girl sighed, feeling suddenly _alone_.

The airship carrying the King and his Heir arrived late in the evening, having been delayed by weather and poor fuel in Purple Kingdom. An exhausted Finn walked down the ramp, looking haggard. Billy was next, his eyes searching for the familiar sights of one of his girls waiting on him. He'd heard that Abeiuwa was on her way home. He'd at least expected Hamest. Instead, there was nobody here. As he stood there watching, Bonnie, Simone, Cherry, and Hurletta swooped in and bundled his dad into a limo, roaring out of there with him, almost like they'd forgotten Billy was there. The young prince sighed, as he started looking for a taxi.

Meanwhile, the King sat in the back of the limo getting blitzed by his wives. He hadn't been forthcoming about why he was taking a trip east. They'd only gotten second-hand information from Drew. "It wasn't something I could safely talk about," Finn said. "Baba-Yaga and the Nine-Tailed-Fox are both in possession of terrible weapons from before the Mushroom War," the King announced. "I can't talk about what those weapons are..." Turning to Bonnie, the big man said, "Talia had to erase your memories of it." "I know what it is," Simone announced. Finn's head whipped around.

With a sigh, the Ice Queen admitted, "I shared thoughts with him, Finn. I know what she's guarding." The big man nodded. Taking a breath, he said, "Katsumi is guarding something every bit as dangerous..." That was heavy, heavy news. Hurletta found herself nibbling at her newly-grown fingernails in terror. But there was another shoe waiting to drop. Staring Bonnie in the eye, the King of Ooo said, "many of the kingdoms from before the war were contacted by the aliens, PB. The aliens gave them stuff they said was good for us..." "...but it could be perverted into weapons," Bonnie rumbled. She _knew_ there was a corner of her mind that was, somehow, blocked off. She remembered Talia doing the deed to all of them. Somewhere in that tiny corner of her brain was a secret that could shatter the world. That was horrifying enough to keep her awake at night. The knowledge that there might be other weapons out there had the Candy-Monarch ready to piss her pants.

Betty rumbled, "it fits. There were a lot of... stories back then. Sightings of strange lights in the sky. There was almost a cult about it. People thought we were finally going to be contacted. Like out of Star Trek... out of a story... Nobody ever thought that the aliens would be contacting us for something... evil." "From what Kat had to say, they hit everybody," Finn muttered. "Everybody got something they thought was good... but it was something they couldn't really control. Kat fears that maybe Bandit Princess has found out about some of it... Somehow she knew there's a weapon under Shiyan Village."

Bonnie shouted, "w-we have to take over the village! We have to get control of it!" The pink princess was almost frantic now. Cherry caught the terrified woman's hand, twining her fingers in the older woman's fingers. The effect was mesmerizing. Bonnie deflated, calming down almost as fast as she'd wound up. "We know about it now, honey," said the gangster. "There's men feeding that bitch information. Has to be. It'll take me a while, but I'm going to find out who's trading in dangerous antiquities..." Her voice was calm and steady, same as always, but there was a note of finality there. Some men were going to _die_ for spilling deadly secrets and digging up stuff that should have stayed buried.

Moving on, Finn said, "there's more, PB. There's shit under every princess's palace. You've all got something ugly. We're... we need to..." "...make an accounting of all of it," Simone agreed. "I'll go first. There's... I think maybe one of our alien artifacts is under Wizard City. There's a strange device down deep there in a space that looks like it was once built up in concrete and steel. It's... It does strange things, and I think it might be responsible for the forcefield that cloaks the city." "Who has access," Betty asked? She hadn't known about that at all. "Only the Grand Master," Simone replied. "The doors won't open for anyone else." "Safe for now," Finn muttered, "but it bears looking at by somebody who's..." "Not crazy," Simone agreed.

Moving the conversation onward, the Ice Queen declared, "I had Lollipop pack a couple of bags for you. You got back just in time for Aerwin's wedding." Finn groaned. He'd forgotten. He'd been so worried about the issue of the weapons that he'd forgotten. That would have gotten Breezy in hot water with her peeps. Fortunately, Simone had things squared away. "Thanks, babe," he sighed.

Indeed, the limo didn't stop at the palace. The driver rolled onto the crosstown expressway, bound for the train station. Arriving at the station, they found Lollipop waiting with the baggage next to a private car. _No rest for the weary,_ the big man thought, as Simone's bodyguard opened the door. The King clambered out of the limo, following Bonnie's round butt, joined moments later by Cherry, Betty, Simone, and Hurletta. Striding up to Lollipop, the King thanked his wife for handling business while he was away, showering her with kisses that left her giggling. Of course, the moment he did that, he found himself facing three anxious faces.

Drawing Peebles to him, the big man fastened his lips to hers slipping his arms around her narrow waist. Yeah, that big butt was definitely a good bit bigger after three kids. Immortal Bonnibel Bubblegum had a little middle-aged-spread going on, but he liked it. Bonnie's face was flushed when he stepped back. Yeah, still there, in spite of all the angst. Betty was next. Though they were certainly 'out in the open', she was a little bit flummoxed to be kissing Simone's husband in front of her face, but she warmed to the business very quickly. She was breathless when Finn let go.

Moving on to the pair who'd be accompanying him to Bee Kingdom, the King of Ooo leaned down and fastened his lips to Cherry's, kissing the little gangster-girl as if it was the first time. Lollipop almost expected her lips to smoke when he got done. Nor did Simone lack for attention. The tall wizard was rocking on her heels like an eager little girl, practically vibrating. Finn pulled her to him and kissed her like he was a schoolboy. It made Lollipop giggle. Indeed, she motioned for the bodyguards to grab the bags to give them a little more time. As the guards headed for the private car at the end of the train, the King stepped off, putting his hands on those two round butts in familiar fashion. Yeah, that felt right. None of them noticed the expression on Hurletta's face as she watched the big man walk away.

Back at the palace, Billy walked into a darkened suite to the sound of echoes from his own footfalls. He'd been expecting to at least see Hamest here. Where was everyone? Crossing their little parlor and kitchen to the doorway of the Lizard-Princess's room, the big man stepped inside, looking around him. The place was the tidy of an unoccupied guest-room, and he found his heart sank. Where was she? "She's been called home," announced a voice. Billy spun around and found Olesia standing there at the entry to her own room. Olesia who made glass threads look winsome. Olesia the plump, with titties for miles.

Hips wig-wagging, the plump woman walked towards him. "It was sudden," the elemental murmured, "or she would have been here... to take care of things one last time." His face went red hot at the implications of those words. It helped not at all that his eyes had been immediately drawn to those knobs. Back in civilization with plenty of access to grub and O was still as skinny as she'd been when Ingrid had been basically working her to death. That skinny waist of hers made those knobs stand out all the more. That fucking body made his pecker want to crawl its way out of his pants.

While he was wool-gathering, the plump woman stepped into his space. She was 'danger close' for an elemental–practically sharing his breath. "I've been guilty of dodging around this," she said. "Guilty of being kinda' creepy, really." The big man tried to deflect that by pretending that he didn't know what she meant. "The staring, William," she whispered. "Every time you were with _her_ or one of _them_, I stared at the pair of you. Like a hungry wolf, I guess." As she made that deadly announcement, the young prince noticed something he hadn't noticed before. There was no heat. He didn't feel as though she were going to scorch him.

Olesia stepped closer, forcing him to back up. "I sort of did the same things Tom does," she said. "Lieing to myself... Holding out for something I well knew I couldn't really have. In the courtship game, I've been kinda' on the outside. I scoffed at my cousin for her... _infatuation_. I laughed at her like all the rest for her folly in giving so much–even to risking her life. Yet, she's got the man, and two beautiful kids, and me? Well, I've got nothing." "Y-you took the meds," Billy gobbled, just before he tripped over the edge of Hamest's bed and went down.

Olesia pounced, straddling his hips and sitting down on him. He could feel her warmth now. He'd been close to Phoebe after her _change_, and he knew what that felt like. It felt a lot like _this_. Leaning down, Olesia pressed those surprisingly _firm_ knobs into his chest. Rubbing her snatch against the length of his boner, the plump girl, said, "I don't have a kingdom to rush home to..." "I-I," he stammered. He wasn't supposed to be doing this. He was supposed to be getting Nieve pregnant. He was supposed to be a married man. "A married man can have a mistress," Olesia reminded him. "A man of means can have more than one..." His blush deepened at the implications of what she was saying.

More to the point, he knew his arguments were utterly absurd because he'd been bangin' Hamest like a drum. Olesia knew that as well as anybody. He rationalized it. The girls had told him to make nice with her. The truth was that was supposed to be for the time he was in Lizard Kingdom fighting off an army and protecting their flanks. And, of course, he had no excuse at all for Katsumi. After his stepmom quit hassling her and finally went to bed, Billy had sneaked over to Kat's place and screwed the shit out of her half the night. He'd banged the fox-girl every way from Sunday. He'd hit it from behind. He'd made her ride his pecker, cowgirl style. He'd even banged her in the shower, riding her hot little body up and down his dick like she was a fuck-toy.

While he was wool-gathering, Olesia continued to rub her pussy against his dong, straddling him there, and that was really starting to take a toll on him. He'd be lieing if he said he didn't want to fuck her. Honestly, he'd thought she was cute enough to fuck the first time he laid eyes on her. He was his father's son. Plump, skinny, big-knockers, and flat-chested waifs... He liked them all, and he was man enough to say it. Now, having dumped a pile of weight, Olesia was just as fucking smoking hot as her cousin was. When the plump girl pressed those smokin' (literally) lips to his, his hands grabbed a big, double-handful of that fat-bottom and squeezed. With those big knobs pressing into his chest, that hot snatch rubbing against his crotch, and the girl trying to vacuum out the inside of his throat, he popped in his pants.

"Oooh," complained Olesia. "_That_ was a waste." Standing up, she reached out and unfastened his jeans. As Billy stammered half-hearted complaints, she rolled them down to expose the soggy mess in his boxers. His pecker was still hard as an iron pipe. It was sticky when she eased it out of its hiding place. "Let's take care of that," said Olesia. Producing a nomex condom like the ones that Finn had been gifted for his encounters with Phoebe, the plump elemental rolled it down Billy's pecker, managing to get his goo all over the condom and her hands in the process. "Now," said she, "no worries over accidents."

Climbing up on him once more, she hiked the soft glass threads of her skirt and eased the crotch of her transparent panties aside. Billy groaned as he felt her hot oven engulf him. There was a momentary hitch as he felt something give way inside, and then she was sliding that steamy-hot goodness down his pole. "O-o-olesia," Billy gasped, as he realized what had just happened. He'd just popped her. She was too busy savoring her first time to reply. It had hardly hurt at all. Indeed, she was just getting warmed up. The gooey mess on his pole was helping that a lot, and she began to ride him like a prize horse. It appeared that complaining of this wasn't going to help him. Having come here to get a piece of Hamest, he wasn't really sure he _should_ be complaining. And he wanted to see those knockers. Olesia had the second biggest pair he'd ever seen, eclipsing even his mom and grandmom. Only naughty Nadia's were bigger.

Reaching up, the big man unbuttoned the front of the plump girl's dress, slowly baring those heavy globes to his greedy eyes. When he reached her belly-button, those heavy tits practically _jumped_ out at him. "Glob," Billy gobbled, as he got to grips with those mega-knockers. "Yes, honey," Olesia moaned. "Touch 'em. Play with 'em." Her wish was his command! Pulling her closer, the big man wrapped his mouth around the one on her left, causing her to squeal at the chill feeling. Nipping and sucking at her knob insistently, the young hero slipped his hands under her dress and got to grips with that fat-bottom of hers, squeezing and stroking her. That ass was just as amazing as he'd imagined. At the same time, her snatch was so hot, it felt almost painful.

It was crazy to think that his dad was banging Phoebe–that he had two-half-elemental siblings. Of course, more sobering thought, Phoebe was on drugs. She was likely to be on drugs basically forever. He didn't know that it was right to expect the same of Olesia. He was conflicted and worried, and, at the same time, kind of crazy into this. Rolling the plush girl on her back, the big man went after those titties as he began to screw her. Bottoming out in her hot box, the big man took his time, teasing her–working those hot knockers over and even playing with her joy-button to make her scream.

He soon had Olesia wriggling around on the bed, her ass shaking and her body thrashing, making the fat tips of those big knockers a constantly moving target. The plump girl clawed at his shoulders, singing his shirt a little, and she clawed the bed, back arching as he plugged her insistently.

And the screaming. Glob, did she scream.

Rolling on his back, the big man let her rest there against him for a few minutes. Then, he began to slowly bounce that beautiful, _hot_ body up and down his big dong, causing her to scream again. Wailing, Olesia went over again and then again, as he worked her knobs over with his cool, wet mouth and plugged her snatch over and over again. It was so fucking good, it was taking willpower to hold out, though, having banged the shit out of Katsumi ironically helped out there. Stopping again, the big man held the plump woman to him.

"W-why are you stopping," she breathed? "D-don't you like it?" Stroking her back and flanks, the big man whispered, "I'm a dude, O. My pecker's not ever complaining about getting good pussy." That nasty compliment made her blush. At the same time, his strong arms around her and his hands on her hips felt so good. "I want you to enjoy it," he told her. "A girl should enjoy her first time. This moment doesn't ever come back." Olesia goggled at him. The big man wrapped his hands in her burning-hot hair and pulled her face to his, driving his tongue into her mouth. He began to slowly fuck her again, winding her up. Pressing her face in against his shoulder, Olesia screamed. The big man kept her blood boiling, making her climax again and again, making her scream until finally he lost the battle against her squeezing snatch. Clutching the plush girl to him, the big man shot off.

Olesia lay limp against him, her breathing telling him she was pretty thoroughly wiped out. "I don't think we should do this," he murmured. Olesia yawned a harumph at him. She felt a little sleepy after all the exertion. Seeing that she was perilously close to going to sleep on him, he shook her gently. They needed to talk about this. Like right flippin' now. "Olesia," he hissed. "What," she yawned? "I don't want you taking meds... not for me...," he rumbled. "Who says I'm taking them for _you_," she retorted? Turning the tables, she pushed him over on his back and fixed him with those knowing red-orange eyes. Primly, the plump girl told him, "I'm a fatty, and I've been dumped on... a lot. I'm like _twentieth_ in line for the throne, so I've pretty much got no chance, and I'm not even worth marrying for my name. My destiny is to be a cheap, easy fuck for some nobleman or rich business tycoon..." It was a horrific self-assessment, and he rushed to refute that.

Leaning down, Olesia Okonski snuggled in against him, pressing those big knobs of hers into his chest and said, "or... I can be _your_ cheap, easy fuck. And you're kind of pretty." "Don't say that," he pleaded. Ignoring him, the younger woman said, "I fit with you and your needs, William. Those three will be forever tied up in their kingdoms, and that nasty bitch they made you marry... someday she'll have to hold her nose and let you do the deed, but you're not going to get a lot of love and affection out of her. Princesses... They've got issues, and we both know it. But you've got me. I've only got my name, and a little money. No prospects of anything more than being a mistress. But I'm loyal. I'm good around kids. We're going to have a nice time together." Billy sighed. Yeah, he was his father's son, because he seemed to be forever falling into situations like this.

The Royal Train pulled onto a siding in the wee hours of the morning. Simone and Cherry awoke to find their husband in the salon, working away. Looking out the window, the Ice Queen found herself staring at a bustling railyard in the middle of nowhere. "Where did this all come from," she asked? "Dudes from Engagement Ring Kingdom built all this," Finn replied. "Bees bring their stuff here from down in the forest. It gets put in vats up there on the hill. When there's enough to ship, the ERK dudes pump it down to vats on trains and haul it away." Cherry goggled. That was a _vast_ amount of narcotic honey! With a shrug, Finn said, "they're selling it over the ocean in Tequila Kingdom now." Ramona was experimenting with using it in mixes with her tequila. The bees were making _bank_.

It was a shock to the two women that so much had happened in the few months that the civilized kingdoms had been at peace. Finn shrugged and uttered, "greed..." Closing down the little computer he was using, the big man rose and headed for the shower. Moments later, the two women were rushing after him. After a few moments of ass-grabbing in the shower, the trio dried off, climbed into clothing suitable for visiting a foreign head of state, and clambered down the stairs at the end of the car.

The forest in front of them was foreboding. Finn had been here a couple of times, but he'd had to walk for miles, and he'd been nearly snatched up by patrols a couple of times. "How do we...," Cherry burbled? Simone found herself wondering if she'd have to fly the pair to Breezy's home. "There's a tram," Finn said, as he motioned for them to follow him. The bees had warmed to the idea of making piles of money, and nobody on the council wanted one of their partners getting him or herself stung and left for dead by some itinerant peasant wandering the forest. They'd put some of their own money into building a tram that went all the way from the railyard to the capitol in the heart of the forest. Arriving at the station, the King rang for the tram, and the trio settled in to wait.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, Billy came out of Hamest's bedroom to an amazing sight. Olesia standing there before a mirror, putting together her wardrobe for the day. Rags, Abeiuwa, and Noemi had to do it the hard way. O was definitely a lot skinnier. At the same time, she still had that fucking amazing ass. As he watched, she opened a box of pale, white sand and a second box of bright-red sand. Waving her fingers, the plump girl caused a stream of sand from both boxes to drift up. Swirling around each other and then around her round ass, the two streams flowed into threads, creating a pair of transparent, hot-pink panties that hugged tight to O's big butt.

Next, she conjured up a heavy-duty bra in hot-pink to support her big boulders. It was a lot easier than the weird drill his mom, grandma, and sister had to go through. Leo had told him about the hilarity of watching Lina pulling on a bra one morning when she was tired. He'd eventually had to help out. Now, as Billy watched and savored the sight, his would-be 'mistress' opened a box full of black, volcanic sand and conjured up a natty little-black-dress, with a semi-transparent cleavage-window over her big titties. His pecker was halfway down his leg at the sight.

When she was done, the big man walked up behind her and slipped his arms around her middle. Laying his head against her shoulder, he pressed his cheek in against hers, feeling the heat of her hair–like threads of iron on a warm day. He was in love with that feeling. "Mmm," she sighed. "This is nice." "You bet it is," he agreed. Turning to face him, she murmured, "what shall we do today?" Taking her hands, the young hero thought about that for a moment. With his dad away at Aerwin's wedding, he would be holding down the fort, dealing with all the bullshit that came with the ugliest job in the world. Bonnie might be looking for him as they spoke. "Let's go for a long walk in the gardens and talk, O," he said.

Two-hundred miles away, Thor sat fumbling out a message on his phone. "They look cute," announced his irritating 'partner'. Thor nodded absently. With a soft sigh, the vampire rumbled, "I wanted to have a daughter..." Marshall had shut the idea down. They weren't going to be making vampire-babies. He wasn't even sure it was possible. They were undead. It had taken Bonnie's science and a lot of help from Dr. Princess to bring _Marshall_ into the world. Death had never intended his undead predators to replace the very life he was aiming to destroy.

Thor found himself grimacing. She made it hard to ignore her. That was key to this whole thing. He wanted to keep her at arms length. That made it easier to tell Star that everything was kosher and above-board. Conversations like this humanized the monster, and that was a problem. "Thanks," he muttered, as he hit send. "I guess you miss them," she said. Thor glanced away. "Why are you treating me so mean," she asked? "I'm trying to be nice..." Glaring at her, he said, "I'm a fuck-up. I cheated on the best thing that ever happened to me. I let myself get caught up, and I cheated on the great love of my life. I don't _want_ to be hanging around with another woman. I wanna' be home with my girls..."

Candy glanced away. "You don't have to be a jerk," she said. "I'm... This isn't easy for me, either. I leaped into sex with a boy I hardly knew. I had stars in my eyes, and I didn't even think about any kind of protection. I got pregnant, and my dad kicked me out of the house. I didn't feel like I had much of a choice but to get married." Turning to face him, the vampire said, "I had sex too early. I got married too early. I want to live it up, but now I'm married... I'm a housewife, with a kid, and I hardly get to do _anything_!"

"Living it up is overrated," Thor muttered. He was staring out the window at the ruined old castle that was the target of today's fun. Candy stared at him. "I've had a hundred girlfriends," he rumbled. "I could still have a girl in every town I pass through if I wanted it. Partying and fucking around is old news." The younger woman stared at him in shock. That wasn't how her mom and grandmom always talked about boys. She'd always thought that boys just wanted to screw everything with a heartbeat–that you had to basically shackle them up to make thm useful. When the big man would have gotten out of the car, she stopped him. "I'll go," she said. "You're known to them..." Which had been ugly, _chilling_ news. It said something about what shade of no-good these dudes were up to if they were looking out for him. The vampire became invisible before opening the door. As she stepped out, she said, "your wife should cut you some slack. Men who don't get sex are vulnerable to those bitches' pheremone attacks..." The men of Purple Kingdom jerked off _frequently_ to prevent... _problems_. Thor found himself staring at the door, long after she'd shut it.

Back in the Bee Kingdom, Finn the King stood on the palace balcony, staring out at the forest canopy's bare-branches in a state of worry. Behind him, a raucous party was in full swing, celebrating both the arrival of the King of Ooo and the upcoming wedding of the kingdom's princess to one of the leading lights of the noble class. His ladies were circulating through the crowd, pressing the flesh and making friends. There was just one problem.

Breezy wasn't here.

He'd finally met Barton. The King of Ooo had finally met the Royal Consort of the Bee Kingdom. He found the other man to be oily and even slightly sinister. Though Finn had put on a good face, he found himself thinking that Barton was the kind of dude who did in his wife and swept the whole thing under the rug. He'd investigated a couple of ugly incidents like that in the Candy Kingdom long ago. Much as Bonnie had done her best to _tame_ the ugly impulses of her subjects, there was always that ugly impulse buried in every living creature. The only difference was that the typical candy-person was neither devious nor careful enough to truly get away with murder. But Barton was no candy-person.

The story was that B was sick. She was flat-on-her-back sick and laid up in bed. It was a definite possibility. This was the closing stages of winter, where there was always shit floating around in the air. Add to that the fact that the Queen Bee had been doing a lot of traveling, organizing for Aerwin's wedding and inviting foreign royals to visit. She'd even invited Marshall and his family. When you added in the fact that bees didn't much _like_ cold weather, there was a lot of room for Breezy to get very sick very fast.

And yet, Finn felt uneasy about the whole business.

It wasn't rational. He knew that. Yet, he felt that his old pal would have crawled to see her daughter's wedding. Breezy had little love for her husband, but she loved those kids, just as much as Finn loved Bill, Fi, and Star. It didn't seem right that she wouldn't be here.

"What's up, dad," Marshall murmured? Finn looked up to find his son there. The son he hadn't known about. He'd been denied the chance to bond with this tall, handsome stranger. It was one of the many regrets of his life. Turning, the big man shocked the younger man by hugging him. "B-breakin'... the... ribs...," Marshall wheezed. The big man stood there _staring_ at him, when he finally let go. It was an odd mood, and it sort of creeped Marshall Lee Abadeer out. "I... uh... just thought I'd say hi," he said, as he turned to go. "Stay," Finn murmured. The word rooted the thin fellow to the spot.

Meanwhile, across the room, Simone stood chatting away with her erstwhile 'daughter-in-law'. She thought of Connie that way because she thought of Marshall as a son. She'd always tried to offer the young fellow love because he was clearly getting none from his birth-mom. Marceline had been a wreck of a person almost from day one, and she carried a thousand years of emotional baggage everywhere she went, making her a poor choice for a mom. Like everything else in her life, having Marshall had been a lark, and it showed in every unpleasant and ugly incident in the young man's upbringing. Much like Finn, Simone had tried to step in to nurture a child who'd spent his formative years teetering on the edge of the abyss.

Much like her husband, Connie was 'going through stuff' because she was managing two hellions as sister-wives who were having trouble coping with what it really meant to be ageless, eternal vampires. It wasn't enough that the pair were equally reckless in their personal dealings. It wasn't enough that Candy was tempted to fuck around and cheat every chance she got. It wasn't enough that Davina would do odd, disturbing things like wandering around naked. The pair seemed to be self-destructing with Candy disappearing for days on end and Davina bouncing back and forth between manic bouts of activity and depression. And it was taking a toll on Marshall's fragile psyche and doing nothing good for their kids.

"I don't know how you do it," Connie confessed. "I don't," Simone retorted. In calm, even tones, the Ice Queen remarked, "I have the certain knowledge that Finn isn't out there stirring shit up, Connie. He's not out there fucking around and acting as if he can do whatever he wants. He behaves like the father and husband that he still is. He's there with the kids as much as its possible for a man wearing a crown to manage. He's sometimes there with Jewel more than I am. He's attentive to me and Emeraude and everybody else in our extended family, even when he'd rather be doing _anything_ else.

"That's the first piece of the pie–a husband who's actually being a husband. I think you've got that piece covered. The second is that I admit my own failings and the part I played in getting us to this place. That's up to and including my decision to embrace polygamy. I can't very well turn around and get upset about the whole thing _now_, can I? Regret isn't going to help you, dear. Life's like an hourglass, glued to the table. No resets."

Connie winced and gave her a rueful look. She'd leaped in. She'd had... _reasons_ for wanting to do that. She'd had reasons well outside of Marshall's kids and even his peace of mind. She'd had no idea just how hard it was to make something like this work. "You need to have a heart-to-heart with the knuckleheads," Simone said. "That's the third piece of the pie, dear girl. They're fucking up, and that needs to stop. My family is under no illusions that our family is a machine and must be maintained like any other well-oiled machine. That means that any piece of the machine that fails to work will be jettisoned. Finn told our biggest offender that to her face, and the rest of us stand ready to make that stick."

Just then, one of the councilors approached with two of Breezy's kids at her side. Simone looked up at them with a frown. "Months ago, an offer was put before you by the Queen," said Councilor Mogg. "We've had no answer. Since Your Highness is here, and you are the chief negotiator for such matters, we should like some of your time." Connie's eyes flicked to the Ice Queen, wondering what the matter was about and what the Ice Queen was going to do about it. "Watch and learn, Connie," Simone said, as she climbed to her feet.

The Ice Queen insisted on having Cherry summoned, and then the little group retired to a private chamber to have a nice, private conversation about the Bee Kingdom's inane proposal. As the group slipped out of the ballroom, the Royal Consort stood on a platform above the center of the room with his chief bodyguard, wearing a sinister smile. Part one of the plan was in motion. The blowhards would have the wizard tied up for _hours_. That left him with plenty of time and space to put the rest of the plan in motion. If everything worked out, he would have either a massive scandal that would damage the King of Ooo's rather tenuous coalition and governing mandate or the King's head itself on a silver plate.

**Lots of ground covered this time. Bill and Olesia finally get it on. Thor and Candy both learn vital life lessons. And Barton puts his plan to take care of Finn in motion.**


	31. Chapter 31

Chapter 31:

"I heard it didn't go so well," announced Chelsea. The Wax-Hustler's tone was insolent. Peihong wanted to beat her face in. She might have, if Chelsea had been across the table instead of on the other side of the world. "I had a setback," the ogress allowed. "That's it. No more. I have the package from our agent in Jungle Kingdom. My tame sages are looking at how to make use of it." She didn't add the contentious problem of Mr. Starchman's assertions that they needed to at least conduct a small-scale test. After the disaster with the death-rocket, she'd come to realize that maybe he wasn't lieing to save his own skin. He'd been honest, and he'd echoed many of the things slime-cunt had said.

Trouble was, Peihong didn't have spare material to test with.

She wasn't sure it was worth the risk to try for more. The folk of Jungle Kingdom were greedy fuckers, eager to profiteer off the death-metal they'd lucked upon. They'd gladly sell you a small quantity of the stuff–for an exorbitant fee. They'd gleefully sell you more in piece-meal fashion until you were bankrupt. If you were a Royal, you got a little better deal. They wanted their fellow kingdoms in their debt. They had the peeps in Frozen Yogurt Kingdom indebted to them. They had some power over the folk in Truth Kingdom. They even held a little power over the King of Ooo himself. Unfortunately Peihong wasn't a recognized power–at least not yet. They wouldn't be selling death-metal to _her_.

Flatly, Chelsea declared, "you're not going to make this work... We need a plan that doesn't involve fantasy weapons." "_Your_ fantasy involves a pack of fools throwing themselves at an _army_," Peihong retorted. "I've fought in wars, Chelsea. I've seen real generals and real soldiers. A pack of highwaymen has no prayer of standing up to men who faced down flesh-melting undead." There was a pause. The ogress knew she'd burned a bridge. They'd been teetering on the brink for months. Indeed, the wax-hustler rumbled an icy, 'goodbye', just before hanging up on her. "Well that's done," the ogress muttered. Now, more than ever, she saw herself as alone against the wrath of the most powerful man in creation.

As the Bandit Princess faced an uncertain future stemming from the fallout of her ugly interview with her ex-partner, another ugly meeting was taking place. The Royal Consort of the Bee Kingdom wore a sinister smile as he tossed his phone down on the table before his eldest daughter. Aerwin had been a little surprised to have her father call her away from the reception where she was supposed to be making nice with her future husband and his family. Not that Roger was in anyway interested in making nice. Roger Hammond had been far more interested in the refreshments, the liquor, his friends, and Aerwin's sisters, not necessarily in that order. Aerwin had been spending the evening with her own friends, commiserating on the suck that was arranged marriage in Bee Kingdom.

She'd been dreaming of running away, honestly. Really, she would have thrown her own hat in the ring to be wed to her mom's old boyfriend if she could have gotten away with it. It was one of those unhappy times to be the eldest sister. She was secure from being exiled to another kingdom, unlike Ariadne, but it was an ugly form of security more like that in a jail than a home. And then this summons had come, and Aerwin had been terrified that her soon-to-be in-laws were pissed off and complaining because she wasn't playing ball.

"I... don't understand," Aerwin burbled. Barton motioned for the stupid sow to pick the phone up. When she made no move to do that, he did it himself, flicking it on to the picture that was now his screen background. Breezy. Bound hand and foot, blindfolded, and looking bedraggled in a filthy robe, as she lay in the Bandit-Princess's dungeon. The evil man shoved it into his daughter's face. Aerwin's jaw came open, as she stared at the sight before her. "W-what," she stammered?

"Your whore of a mother's in good hands," said Barton. "For now." Aerwin gulped. "W-where...," she started to say? "You're to go back to the reception," Barton interrupted. "Finn the Human is there." Which Aerwin already knew. What did that matter? Her father had kidnaped her mom! He'd been lieing about it! "Listen, you stupid little bitch," Barton snarled! "You're to take that man back to your room and offer yourself to him..." Aerwin howled protests. Grabbing her by the hair, the fallen Royal shook the phone in his daughter's terrified face, snarling, "you will do it, you ungrateful little bitch, or your precious mama will suffer!"

As Aerwin listened in growing horror, her evil father whispered to her of his plan. Of how she would lure the King to her chamber. Men would be posted to listen. She'd undress and let the King have his way. All she had to do was scream. All she had to do was scream and sting him in the middle of the act. The soldiers would handle the rest. The alternative? She wasn't going to like the alternative. It wasn't as though she had much for choice, though. Her father was in complete control of the kingdom right now.

The terrified youth left the room, her mind in a state of turmoil. What was she going to do? Her father wanted her to commit murder! Worse, he was holding her mom hostage. With her mother out of the picture, Barton would be her regent! Aerwin wasn't old enough to rule. She was only sixteen! Her father and his friends could shut her up by simply locking her away. She was fucked. She could fight her dad and be locked up or commit murder and be put to death. She'd even be giving up her virginity to a stranger she hardly knew!

The walk back to the reception was the longest of her life, and yet she still had no answer when she walked through that door. Finn was alone when Aerwin returned to the room. The Vampire King, who'd been bending his ear across much of the day, was absent. It was as good a chance as she was going to get. Swallowing hard, the slim young lady glided across the room.

Finn, who was at the bar looking at a vintage bottle of fine honey-liquor, glanced up immediately. It was a bad omen and a hopeful sign both. He was more alert than anybody she'd ever seen. At the same time, if he was eyeing the honey, she had a hope of him being high enough to murder. "Hey," he greeted Breezy's eldest. He'd seen Aerwin a couple times when she was young–back when Breezy still visited. Almost-adult Aerwin was the image of her mom. Finn's heart went out to her as he remembered Breezy getting married off against her will. "Would Your Majesty care to dance," Aerwin murmured?

Hundreds of miles away, Blargetha returned to the lab to find Sarah there working her way through the inspection of the airframe. "I thought you were baby-watching," the slime-princess announced. "I am," muttered the android-girl. "I'm patched into the video-feed from the nursery..." As she approached, Blargetha opined, "what's wrong? Bonnie not provide you a program for being a mom?" Eyes alive with rage, Sarah glared at her. Calmly, Blargetha remarked, "unless androids can suffer from the Quicksilver Curse, you'd never reach those kids in time. Be a shame for you to get scrapped..."

The android-woman showed just how fast she could move as she crossed the room and got in Blargetha's face. Side-stepping the raging woman, Blargetha said, "you should probably dump that application, Sarah. It's making you irrational. We still need to finish the prototype and finalize manufacturing instructions. If you're staying, we can run the stress analysis again." There was no answer. When the evil princess turned around, the android was gone. Rolling her eyes, Blargetha returned to her work-bench.

Back in Bee Kingdom, Finn the King followed his friend's oldest child into a small chamber not far from the reception. Her father had wanted her to take the King to her room, but Aerwin had seen that his idea was clearly not going to work. Far from being a man controlled by his pecker, the King of Ooo was a thoughtful, even _suspicious_ man. "How is your mom," Finn asked? Aerwin flushed. She'd not seen her. Of course now she knew why, and she feared that question would lead to dangerous places.

"Why don't you have some honey," Aerwin replied? She'd brought the bottle from the refreshment table. "No thanks," Finn replied. "I can't have any... Not good for me..." At something of a loss she said, "you don't sound like you're in the best of moods..." At Finn's frown, the young woman reminded him, "we're supposed to be celebrating my wedding..." His eyes asked the question. Were they really celebrating her _forced_ wedding?

That look gave her an opening. Stepping towards him, Aerwin said, "I don't want to be married. I feel like... like he's going to rape me..." The big man's look of horror told her she'd maybe overplayed her hand. She'd wanted him sympathetic, not disgusted. She needed this to work, but she was no seductress. She didn't know how. "You're welcome to leave with my family," Finn said. "I will not let my friend's kid be hurt. I'm King. I'll work this out..." Slipping her arms around his neck, Aerwin replied, "the council would have a fit. I... There's another way you could help me..." A puzzled Finn frowned at her until she tried to kiss him.

The King of Ooo pushed her away. When she tried to pursue him, the big man shut her down with a stern command. "Sit," he growled in the manner of an irritated adult to a kid who'd gotten out of pocket. Aerwin sat down on the couch instinctively. "Why did you do that," the King demanded? His tone wasn't the tone of voice of a man who saw her as a woman.

"I-I thought...," the young woman burbled. "You're _sixteen_," the King retorted. He might as well have called her a kid. "I'm old enough to be married," she muttered. "Not a fan of that either," Finn retorted. "My kids grew up fast, but it's not what I wanted for them. I wanted them to finish school and learn what it means to be grown-ups not end up with grown-up problems in their teens."

There were some things here that weren't adding up. "Why did you ask me to come here," he asked? "Really?" She didn't need some dirty old man to lose her virginity to when there were legions of young men who would have been happy to have a pretty girl. Mouth hanging, Aerwin stared at him. She tried to refute that, but even to her ears, the lie sounded lame. "So," he said. "Somebody put you up to this." Her face flushed, and she looked away. "Who, Aerwin," he murmured, "and why?"

As he spoke, he noticed something. Her eyes kept going back to her hands. Kneeling before her, the King of Ooo took her hand and asked, "you were supposed to sting me, weren't you?" The floodgates opened, and it all came tumbling out. "Yes," she whined. "M-my father wanted me t-to kill you. There's a woman... I heard him talking to her on the phone. This was a chance to g-get you... because you're a..." "...pussy-hound," he rumbled. Her blush deepened. "And why is he doing this," Finn asked? "Is this about your mom? I know he's jealous..."

Shaking her head, the young woman replied, "he hates momma. He's always hated momma. He hates her. He hates us kids. He just said those things to hurt her. He... It's like he taunts her with the one thing she can't have." Finn found himself blushing, and, at the same time, he wanted to hurt Barton. It was an ugly, _evil_ reaction. He didn't know the guy, but he wanted to hurt him. That wasn't right because he didn't know the whole story. "He sold momma, sir," Aerwin sobbed. "I know he sold momma. They... He... He told them he doesn't care if they kill her after I'm made Queen." Finn shot to his feet, his face a mask of utterest rage. The lovely young woman shrank back from him. Voice dry and hard, the King of Ooo told her, "go to your room, Princess Aerwin. Wait for me there."

Leaving the young heir there in that room, the King of Ooo stormed out. He was seeing red. A cloud of utter rage clouded his mind. It was just as he'd feared! Barton had done away with Breezy. That motherfucker had thrown in with Bandit Princess to spite his own people! He'd tried to sell Aerwin's ass! Brushing past people in the reception, the King of Ooo stormed up to the Royal Consort, his face a mask of hatred.

Barton had returned to the reception by way of creating an alibi for himself. He wanted the filthy wingless to be caught out molesting and maybe even murdering his daughter. His loyal guards were waiting for her screams. He was unprepared for the speed with which the whole scheme unraveled. His friend's look of utter terror was his only warning. Then a powerful hand spun him around.

And the King's mechanical hand crashed into his face, shattering the eye-socket.

As the former consort screamed, the King of Ooo kept punching him and punching him and punching him. That iron-hard fist kept crashing down against Barton's face over and over again well past the point where the consort's skull was a bloody piece of mush. It was only the shouts that stopped him.

On the far side of the palace, an irritated Cherry watched as their annoying host went over their disgusting offer one more time. It was clear as the nose on the bitch's face that she didn't _get_ Finn's family. Honestly, Cherry understood that, for an outsider, it was likely _impossible_ for them to understand. Their family wasn't built on alliances and one man's lust for power. The family had formed organically around a man who was more devoted patriarch than would-be despot. Finn had risen to be King because he loved the world, and he'd attracted the love of the women who were allied with him. Unfortunately, she feared they were going to find themselves dealing with more of the same, and she feared there would someday be some jackass trying to _buy_ her daughter, Honeydrop, at some point.

The two would-be wives had sat passively through much of the conversation, though that was as creepy as the rest of the business for Cherry. The older of the pair was just fifteen years old. The younger was only fourteen. Being a mom of a baby girl, Cherry had started to catch some–a _lot_–of Finn's angst. A kid should be a kid. Not running around fighting wars and certainly not getting sold off to be an old man's fuck-toy. There was a karmic debt she'd be paying for her part in some of the ugly that had gone on during her reign as Boss of Bosses in the Candy Kingdom. She knew that some of that ugly probably involved kids somewhere. She was going to pay for the evil she'd brought into her life in her quest for power. At the same time, she now saw the life Finn had led himself as evil, and a part of her wanted to be angry at Bonnie for not only turning a blind eye to it but _profiting_ from it.

Simone was working the councilor like a fish on a hook. She was playing artfully dumb, letting their prize idiot tire herself out going over the same stupid ground over and over again. Mrs. Mogg had been bleating on about alliances for much of the afternoon, talking about wars that were now forbidden and an enemy that had been thoroughly vanquished. If she had a lick of sense, she would have seen that there was no reason to put these kids through this level of bullshit when her Kingdom was making bank, and all they had to do was pay Finn's taxes in order to keep on keepin' on.

As the clock on the wall chimed to mark the fact that dinner was about to start, the younger of the two girls finally spoke up, announcing, "I think there is a misunderstanding here..." Cherry and Simone focused on Penelle's young face with laser precision. Rising, the young girl stepped forward past her erstwhile chaperon and negotiator, declaring, "I believe the Queen of Ice is laboring under a delusion..." Simone's face went red. Cherry's hand on hers calmed the tall wizard.

Stopping before the pair, the young girl said, "this is a question of _choices_ as much as it's a question of duty. I am bound by duty to marry to the advantage of this kingdom. I'm not naive in that. As a member of the Bee Kingdom Royal Clan, I wouldn't have it any other way. I will be useful to my people. At the same time, I am the rare individual that is given a choice in how she executes that duty. My choices are... _stark_. I can be married over the seas to the Bee Kingdom of the northwest, or I could be sent to the far east. I'd never see my home and family again..." The youth let those words hang there, playing to the sympathies of the two women on the couch.

"You are correct that my Kingdom has peace in its hands," Penelle said. "You're correct that we're becoming wealthy, Your Highness." She was attacking everything that Cherry had just been thinking. Finn was right. This little wench was very dangerous. "Peace is a fragile thing," Penelle remarked, "and just one war can transform a kingdom from wealthy to economically crippled in a single year..." Staring Simone in the eyes, the younger woman said, "I can serve my Kingdoms' needs–tying us more firmly into the fabric of the Empire of Ooo. As the King's wife, I can advise him and help him understand the peculiar needs of my people. At the same time, well, I would have the hope at least of seeing my sisters and brother from time to time. I would have the hope of attending my mother's funeral at her passing or looking after her in her dotage."

Dropping to one knee before her would-be sister-wives, the young lady said, "my _choice_, Your Highness. I _choose_ this fate. With both eyes open. I choose to be married. I'm young. I'm fertile. I'm intelligent. My children will not be dullards. They'll be useful members of your bureaucracy instead of worthless hangers-on..." Before Simone could begin to articulate a response, the sound of running feet announced a much more serious issue was now on the table.

**Looks like BP and the Queen of Ooo are no longer besties. Meanwhile, Finn to Filthy Child-Molester: Buh-Bye...**


	32. Chapter 32

Chapter 32:

"Ok," said Connie. "My husband talked them down from immediate execution." Simone blew out a breath. She'd been worried that they'd be fighting their way out of here. She could fly, but she could only take one person at a time. None of them wanted to commit murder on the Bee folk. "How did you do it," Cherry asked? With a shrug, Connie said, "he merely reminded them why it was they still had a kingdom..." The Vampire King was a very dangerous person to cross. "So," said Connie. "What're we doing?" "We're figuring out why Finn decided to beat Barton to a pulp," Cherry retorted, "literally."

"Maybe I can help," a voice announced.

Three sets of eyes flicked to the window, where they found Penelle perched in a demur yellow dress that still managed to leave her calves exposed. She was just what Finn had said–a dangerous little thing with the heart of a viper. Simone, ever the motherly type, pitied a child who'd been forced to grow up that way. Her kids could have ended up like Penelle. In a time not very long past, Finn was the Hero of Ooo, and he could very well have parleyed that fame into _more_. He'd stepped back from the stage like the good and honest man that he was, leaving the game of thrones to those who wanted to play.

Penelle hopped down off the window and came striding into the room, hips wig-wagging saucily as she pranced along. She was too young to be what she was, and Simone imagined Breezy having quite the time with her. The nasty little thing went and sat herself on the edge of the table and sat there, as if waiting for the questions to begin. That said something about how Breezy's household ran–and just what part Penelle typically played. She was the spy. She was the little info-merchant, catching folk unawares and learning their secrets for later sale. She was loyal to _herself_ and likely nobody else. Cherry could see what she was.

Wearing a twisted smirk, the young girl said, "I'm dangerous. I know it. I can see what you're thinking right there in your eyes. You're transparent to me. You _fear_ me." Turning a glance on the gangster, the naughty little bitch said, "I'm possessed of a malign intellect. Born this way, I'm afraid. Just you consider that before you reject me out of hand. I could be a problem for you, or I could be useful." "Your point, Lady Penelle," Simone rumbled. Turning to face them directly, the little princess said, "my father is an inveterate despoiler of little girls, Your Highness. He always has been. I understand it's... a curse of his family. When I was ten, he crept into my bedroom. I hid in the closet until he left..." Simone's mouth came open in horror.

"What do you know about Barton," Cherry interrupted. She saw somewhat, where this was going. Glancing down to examine her fingernails, as if she were bored, Penelle remarked, "that sort of thing is... _leverage_, as you well know, Your Highness." Cherry nodded, conceding the point. "Who owns your dad," Simone demanded? "I'm not sure," Penelle replied. "I've... overheard phone-calls. When he thought he was alone, he would take calls from somebody. He's been ordered to... do things. The Inspector of the Royal Honey has been skimming money from the sales of honey to the wingless at our border. My father takes the money and passes it on to this person for some scheme she has." "Bandit Princess," Cherry muttered. It all made sense now.

"What else did she ask your father to do," asked the Mafia Princess? "Not sure," Penelle replied. "The last conversation I heard was... _frantic_. Shortly afterwards, mom 'got sick'." Simone couldn't miss those 'air-quotes'. She was now afraid for Breezy's life, and she knew exactly how Finn might have reacted if he'd heard that news himself. That was a matter for later, though. Penelle was still speaking, and the Ice Queen tuned back in to what she was saying.

"Aerwin was supposed to offer herself up to the King," Penelle replied. "While you were distracted with Lady Mogg, my insipid big sister was supposed to throw herself at your husband... and sting him when he was, shall we say, _compromised_..." Simone's face was twisted in a rictus of anger now. Now she understood what had so enraged her husband that he'd beaten a man to death with his bare hands. She wanted to bring Barton back to life and murder him all over again. "There's a house," said Penelle. "There's a house in the woods. It was once a cottage that belonged to a couple of wood-nymphs and the little harem of males they kept in their thrall. My father goes there... Rumors hold that it's become more than a little cottage for a couple of whores..."

Nodding, Cherry said, "I guess I know where I'm going tonight. Simone? Hold down the fort and keep our husband's head attached to his shoulders." As she turned to go, Penelle asked, "well? Is that enough? Am I in?" Power. It could only have been about that for this twisted child. Yes, she was a dangerous little creature. They would have to figure out what to do with her sooner rather than later. In the right now, Cherry wasn't going to be the one arranging marriage for a child. "Come back in a couple of years, Lady Penelle," said the Boss of Bosses. "We'll talk then."

When she'd gone, Simone turned to the _interesting_ young lady and asked, "where is your older sister?" "In her room," Penelle replied. She sounded irritated. Connie headed off the looming confrontation by reminding their little problem, "usually we Royals don't start murdering our siblings and grasping at power until we're at least sixteen, Penelle. Maybe you should slow down a bit and leave the back-stabbing to the professionals a little while longer. Maybe take a study-break for a couple of years..." The little witch's face went red hot. Taking her by the arm, the Empress led her to the door advising her, "your body's a little young to be cashing the checks you're trying to write with your mouth."

The Empress waggled her eyebrows suggestively. This little bitch was going to set herself up to get molested if she kept on this way. While _Finn_ had the morals to turn down underage poon, there were a lot of unscrupulous men out there just itching to get hands on some kinder-snatch. "Things are going to change around here now that your father's out of the picture," said Connie. "Bide your time a bit and get a couple more years under your belt." The vampiress shoved the twisted child out the door and shut it in her face and stood there listening a while to make sure the little bitch was gone.

When they were sure their future problem was gone, Simone announced, "I want to see Aerwin. I need your help." Simone herself could fly, so there was only one reason she would need the Empress's help. "You won't like the feeling," Connie murmured. Simone knew exactly what she was talking about. She'd heard it from Star. Finn, characteristically, never talked about what it felt like to him when Marceline covered them with her invisibility. "It won't be worse than having the Lich cohabiting my body, Connie," Simone retorted. "Let's go."

Meanwhile, after leaving Simone, Cherry headed back to her own room. She felt both exhausted and dirty. Arriving in her bedroom, she shut the door and immediately started shedding her little black dress. "Ok," said Marshall, as he materialized in Cherry's bedroom. "What's really going on?" Covering her knockers, Cherry muttered, "figures you don't know how to knock..." "Seen it," Marshall retorted. "You were shot, remember?" The little woman glared at him, as she stepped behind the bathroom door. She hardly needed the reminder. "My father isn't a murderer," Marshall muttered. "What the fuck did that guy do? Who did he hurt?" Finn the Human was the kind of man who tried to save the marriage of two predatory spiders, even when those spiders were trying to fucking eat him. The idea that he would just randomly kill some spank was a joke–and a piss-poor one at that.

"His wife," Cherry sighed. She was getting out of her stockings now. The thin fellow could see her in the mirror. He could kind of see how his dad got hooked on that. She was a sexy little thing, with curves everywhere, and that little ass was scrumcious. Marshall grunted in response to her not-so-shocking revelation. It figured that this was about a girl. His dad was a hopeless blue-pill loser in some ways. He always took the girl's side, even when it cost him. Fighting down temptation, the Vampire King glanced away from the mirror when the cherry-pop started pulling her panties off.

"Breezy," Cherry, said, as she came out of the bathroom clad in a towel. "Breezy is missing. Finn believes that Bart had something to do with it." "She the girl that used a magic song on him," Marshall rumbled? "The same," Cherry replied. She'd healed Finn _twice_, saving him from death at the hands of the Dipped the second time. Marshall sighed heavily. That was the girl his dad had been willing to arm-twist Marshall to help out. There was a _lot_ of history there. Now he understood. He might have done the same thing to somebody hassling Shoko, Star, or Betty.

"Ok," said the Vampire King. "When are you sneaking out?" Cherry frowned at him. With his typical roguish grin, the tall man said, "you usually have some dirty dudes in low places you can talk to. Guy like that who tries to do his wife probably has skeletons in the old closet. When are we going?" Cherry rolled her eyes and said, "sometime tonight, when sneaking out of the palace doesn't attract attention." With a grin, the tall man teased her chin with the tip of his finger and said, "don't need darkness..." As he faded from view, he said, "I bring my own..."

Rolling her eyes, the little woman said, "I'm taking a shower. I've been up for the last twenty-four hours." A voice near the door said, "I'll get you some coffee." The door opened and shut again. "_Marshall_," Cherry growled. "You're a fucking mouth-breather! I can _hear_ you!" Caught! "Going," Marshall Lee burbled, as he opened the door again. This time, he did step out into the hall as he shut the door.

The Vampire King was as good as his word. He was gone a scant thirty minutes. Returning to the room his wicked stepmother was using, the tall fellow knocked politely and waited. "Come in," Cherry announced. She was pulling on hiking-boots when he entered. That brought back unhappy memories. The tall man put the coffee cup on the side-table and waited. The gangster girl finished tying up the boots and climbed to her feet. Striding across to the table, she took the cup and drank deep. Setting the cup down once more, she told him, "the place we're going to is a whorehouse run by nymphs..." "Shocker," Marshall retorted. "It might well be," Cherry replied. "I think there's unsavory shit going on there." Marshall frowned. She was a gangster. She was _the_ gangster. What was there that was unsavory that would bother _her_.

Looking into her dark eyes, the tall man shivered, as he realized that he maybe might not want to know. "I need you focused, Marshall," she said. "Focused on saving your dad's life. I need a promise that you'll stay focused on that..." "Or...," he growled? "Or you're not going," she said. His hands curled into fists. The darkness was never far away, and he realized that she feared whatever was in this house would drive him to murder just like his dad. That's when he realized just what it was that she feared they'd find. Her eyes were unwavering. She needed his help, but she feared his reaction.

Taking out his phone, the Vampire King flicked it on to his private number. "Put it on voice-dial," he said. "I'll wait outside." Nodding, the Mafia Princess, typed the younger man's phone number into her phone and keyed it to voice-dial before slipping the phone in her pocket. "Ok," he said. "We're going for a little ride. You'll need to be quiet. People can still hear you..." Without a further word, he swept the little woman into his arms. One step. Two. Then they were flying–out through the window and into the sky above the Royal Palace of the Bee Kingdom. Marshall climbed swiftly, soaring up above the canopy of the forest–taking them out of the range of prying ears. In the cool air up there, he turned to his father's wife and said, "ok. Where we going?"

Cherry gave the directions, just as she'd gotten them from her agents. They'd confirmed where the house was, what was on offer there, and who ran the place. It was the kind of ugly thing that her husbands had both fought against. It was the sort of ugly karma that threatened your soul. She was ashamed to know that her agents had profited from that place. She would have to do something about it. Someday. That was the thing that was even uglier for her. To save her husband, she might have to spin an ugly deal that left these sick fucks in business for a little while longer.

Forty minutes after starting out, the Vampire King alit a hundred yards out from the sinister house in the woods. "Is that what it's like for you," Cherry asked? Marshall flinched. He'd forgotten. He was used to this. He was getting used to that ugly, skin-crawling feeling. His dad had felt it many, _many_ times with his mom. Finn always took care of the girl, even when she was so soaked in evil you could feel it on her. "We're going to talk, when this is over with," Cherry said, as she turned back to the business at hand.

The house was a raucous place. There were a large number of customers there. Far from being the home of a few harlots, it was clearly the place thirsty men came for a party. They'd encountered a few bee-dudes coming back from the place or heading there in a hurry. "Ok," said she. "I'm headed in." Stepping off, the little woman left the Vampire King standing in the shadows. Almost he decided not to hide himself again. He'd wanted that power not very long ago. Now that he had it, he hated that feeling.

Back in the palace, Simone and Connie came swooping through Aerwin's window and into the young princess's quarters. They found her laying on the bed, staring at the ceiling, her face shadowed with fear and worry. There had been a dozen soldiers on guard outside, which could have meant anything. What it suggested to Simone was that something was _very_ wrong here. Finn might well not be the only person in danger here. Separating from Connie, Simone called out to Breezy's daughter.

Aerwin was out of bed, her face contorting in terror for a moment. Then, as recognition dawned, she rushed her mom's friend and threw her arms around the older woman before bursting into tears. Hugging the younger woman, Simone stroked her short hair, whispering soothing words. Taking her by the arm, the Ice Queen led her over to the bed and sat her down. Settling on the bed beside her, the older woman took her hand. It was so smooth and natural, Connie found herself envying Simone. She could only hope to be a mother like that.

"I-is Finn ok," Aerwin murmured? "Nobody's talking... The guards won't let me leave..." "He's imprisoned," Simone allowed. "Your father is..." Aerwin flushed. The man who'd left her had looked like a man ready to commit murder. "He's had my momma taken," Aerwin murmured. "He had pictures of her on his phone... tied up and laying somewhere... in somebuddy's dungeon..." Connie announced, "we need that phone..." It was key to proving Finn was in the right. "It's probably still in his pocket," Simone mused. "I'll get it," Connie said. She knew where they'd taken the body.

Back in the forest, Shawna Desmarais sat in the corner of her bar opposite the door, listening to the thumping music with a couple of vials of rendered Fruit-Witch Venom before her and a needle poised at her arm. The house was full, and the sounds of vice drifted to her occasionally from the upstairs and the back rooms. She was a woman of demons. When the house was full like it was tonight, she found herself remembering her own life in a house like this. She'd been an underage sex-worker until a hit team hired by a rival madam set the house on fire and burned it down, killing many of those inside. Shawna was haunted by the screams. Only she and her sister had escaped that night.

They'd come _here_ to hide out, and they'd both managed to latch onto men to take care of them. It had been a relatively happy life until Gemma's man missed a dose of the drugs. He and his brother were buried out in the garden. They'd smashed the older brother's head with a rock and poisoned the younger. The sisters had never been the same after that day. Both had gotten into drugs. Unfortunately, while Gemma had somewhat managed to control her addiction, Shawna's had spiraled out of control, going into harder and harder drugs. Fortunately their business mostly ran itself.

Just as the evil nymph would have jabbed the needle in and pressed the plunger, the stranger walked in. Everybody in the underworld knew who _she_ was. A tiny, humanoid candy-person with a heart of stone. In her way, the little candy person was just as _bent_ as the two sisters, but she was far more dangerous. Weaving her way through the early morning crowd of horny nobles, the gangster-girl strode up to Shawna's table and spent a while giving her the stare. Those dark eyes seemed to suggest that Shawna was a piece of humanoid garbage–living filth.

"Good morning," Cherry murmured. "You're the fuckup that's sold out to the Bandit Princess." Shawna's mouth came open. How did this woman know that? Sitting back in her chair, the nymph rumbled, "you don't run the world..." "I run enough of it," Cherry retorted. "Don't make me marshal my forces against you..." Outside in the forest, Marshall Lee's phone rang. The young anti-hero swiftly drew it out and answered it. He found himself listening in fascination to the conversation in the building.

Cherry read the evil bitch the riot-act, pointing out the dangers of her current business model in a world where the King himself had sanctioned conventional vice. "This shit's off limits," said Cherry. "I should make you disappear!" "Really," growled Shawna? "I don't see an army..." Motioning to the guards scattered around the room, the evil woman remarked, "maybe I should make _you_ disappear. I'd probably get a pile of money as a reward..." That was the moment that a specter came striding out of the wall. He was a tall, blonde humanoid with a massively fractured skull. The nymph fell out of her chair in shock and terror. The specter kept right on coming, though, passing through the table as if it weren't there. In short order, the crowd in the common room were crowding the windows and doors trying to get out.

"Baby," howled the dead man, "why did you do it? Why did you kill me?" Cherry snapped her fingers in dramatic fashion, and the dead man stopped right where he was. Shoveling the filth on the table onto the floor, the crime-boss said, "the Queen Bee was kidnaped and snatched right out of the palace. She was moved out of this kingdom. How was it done, Ms. Desmarais? Any thoughts?" The terrified nymph lay on the floor, her heart pounding as she gulped down air. Her eyes were wild and frightened, and she looked like she might either die on the spot of fear or flee into the woods, never to return. When the second specter came waltzing through her walls, his face and throat colored purple from the poison he'd ingested, Shawna Desmarais began to spill her guts of every dark secret she knew.

In less time than it takes to tell, the Mafia Princess came walking back out of the now-empty whorehouse just as she'd gone in. She found a grim Marshall Lee standing there in the shadows of a tree. "I'm sorry," she said. She meant the evil shit he'd had to overhear. "Forget it," he muttered. "C'mon. If I know how shit usually goes for my dad, they're planning to burn him at the stake or something." Without a further word, he scooped up his stepmomma and vaulted into the sky.

Indeed, matters _were_ moving forward. The Bee Kingdom's governing council was now in session, with members having come from across the kingdom and even from business abroad to deal with the crisis at hand. The Queen was ill and mewed up in her quarters, and the Consort was deceased, having literally been beaten to death by the man who was supposed to be their protector. The news had the council in a state of turmoil, with half the council unsure what to do now.

Of course, there were those whose eyes were on the main chance. With both Royal Parents now out of the picture, the Heir would need shepherding. The Council would need to appoint someone as Regent, and there were a number of faces who hungered for that power. The Kingdom would have to speed up the marriages of the remaining Royal Children to get them out of the way of course, with Naome being the most immediate _problem_.

And, of course, there was the question of what to do with the murderer.

Lord Curtis Howard wanted to get right down to business with the trial, but he had been Barton Banks' cousin and long time friend. He had more than a few reasons to want to do in the King of Ooo. The Howard family had been insulted, long ago, by Finn Mertens, and they still remembered that day. Lady Corrine Mogg counseled patience. While the facts of the matter _were_ clear, she thought that Finn Mertens ought to be given some _leeway_. He was holding the whole damned world together, preventing the forces of chaos from running wild. "We bloody can't just ignore the fact that he beat a man to death, Corrine," muttered Condeleeza Hammond. "We can't put him to death, either," Corrine retorted. "What do you suggest instead?" "A trial," announced Gerard Walker! "We'll put him on trial!"

"There will be no trial," Simone announced, as she thrust open the chamber doors. The gathered councilors spun to face the Ice Queen. Lady Mogg frowned down her narrow nose at their impertinent visitor. "You don't have power here," she declared. "I have the power of _truth_," Simone retorted, as she strode towards the gathering. It was only then that the gathered councilors realized that Princess Aerwin was with her. "Princess Aerwin belongs in her quarters," announced Lord Curtis. "Under guard." "The guards are not to be trusted," said Connie, as she materialized. "They're part of the plot." "_What_ plot," howled Councilor Walker?!

"My father's plot," Aerwin declared. The councilors' eyes narrowed on her. Many of them were friends of the late Consort. Barton had his hands in the pockets of several noble houses in the kingdom. Aerwin met those hard expressions without wilting. Simone thought her mother would have been proud to see it. "My father plotted with outsiders to have my mother taken from our home," Aerwin declared. "He showed me her picture on his phone. He threatened to have her murdered..."

"And what proof do we have of this," demanded Curtis Howard? Calmly, the Empress lay the dead man's phone on the table, opened up to the offending pictures. It had been a matter of simply ordering the corpse to unlock the phone. Fortunately, there was enough brain-matter left in his ruptured skull to do that. "B-but why would the Consort do such an evil thing," howled Condeleeza Hammond? "Because he would be Regent," said Aerwin, "until I turned eighteen... maybe longer if he could get the council's backing."

As the councilors listened–some in horror, all in some flavor of unease–the young heir told of how her father had meant for her to take the King back to her quarters. She talked of how she'd been pressed to commit murder upon him, though it was clear in hindsight her father would have been satisfied for the King of Ooo to be caught diddling the heir. Finn the Human had seen through the whole thing, and he'd been _very_ angry. Even the most cavalier of the courtiers could well understand why.

"But... This makes no sense," howled Lady Mogg. "W-why would Barton do such horrible things?!" "It makes sense in context with what I discovered," announced Cherry. The Mafia Princess came striding into the hall, with the Vampire King at her side. "He is... or _was_ in thrall to the Bandit Princess." Whispers of consternation drifted through the room at the mention of that name. Word had been getting around in the civilized kingdoms. Everyone was aware of the army of the starving massed at the Grey Forest's border. Everyone had heard of the murders and outright cannibalism in Lizard Kingdom. There had been rumors of secret dealings between Emerald Kingdom's princess and the bandits. Far from being a base murderer, the King had every right to sanction them if Barton had been in league with his enemy.

"I demand the release of my husband," Simone growled, her eyes blazing with pale fire. It was a convincing–and _terrifying_–reminder of who they were dealing with. Corrine Mogg rushed to the doors and sent the guards to the dungeon to free the King from prison. _Almost done,_ thought Marshall. "One last thing," said Simone. "The Royal Bodyguard of the Bee Kingdom is corrupt... They are sentenced to sixty years. Dungeon. Then they are banished for life." One of the soldiers who'd been standing guard there in the room raised his weapon, and, belatedly, Corrine Mogg realized that he was the the one man there wearing the badge of the Bodyguard. He'd barely begun to move when the Ice Queen froze him into a statue on the spot. Just eighty more to go.

It didn't take much convincing after that to get the council moving. Soldiers loyal to the council were dispatched, and the arrests began. After a tense half hour, council guards arrived with Finn among them, looking dirty and a little disheveled. He looked none the worse for wear, though he _was_ still splattered with gore from Barton's head. Upon catching sight of Aerwin, the King of Ooo immediately moved towards her. When one of the guards might have blocked him, the King gave him that patented _stare_, and the soldier backed down. Total intimidation. One step. Two, and then he was hugging Aerwin. "I'm'a get your momma back," he whispered. "I'm'a bring her home to you."

"All very touching," rumbled Lord Howard, "but there is still the matter of Regency." Finn knew what that word meant. It was one of those unhappy words he'd discussed with Bonnie a long, _long_ time ago. She'd had two kids who were too young to take charge of the Kingdom, and she hadn't wanted a repeat of the clusterfuck with Lemondgrab trying to make a grab for power in her kingdom. Finn and Simone had been named regent in her will until Bon and Shoko were old enough to make their own decisions. Finn hadn't even been able to pronounce the word until recently, though he knew it when he heard it. Back then, it had been the 'look after my kids and their stuff' agreement. Today it was 'Breezy's neighbors are screwing with her kids and trying to take their stuff'.

The big man glanced up and said, "Queen Breezy has been the King's good friend of long years. It is my honor to act as Regent for her daughter until such time as she is brought home..." As the councilors howled, the King of Ooo declared, "I hereby appoint Constance, Princess of the Engagement Ring Kingdom, as my agent and proxy." Big words. Marshall winced. 'New Finn' was in full effect. Releasing the young princess, the big man turned his face on the councilors, as if daring them to argue. "So be it," muttered Condeleeza Hammond. Turning to his ladies, the King said, "we should pack and go. There's business waiting."

As the sun was setting Marshall Lee Abadeer found himself sitting opposite his dad's wife in the King's private car, his mind on his father. The family had gathered up their shit and gotten back on the tram in short order, but Finn himself had remained behind. Working deets, he'd said. He wanted everything squared away before he left because he didn't have the time to come back here if the bee-peeps got out of pocket. He was risking his life on people that Marshall no longer trusted. How many more traitors were there still in the Bee Kingdom?

Even beyond that, there were other issues at hand here. The shitbag he'd killed had done some pretty horrible shit. What kind of man used his own kid to try and murder somebody? And that was before you got into how Aerwin was supposed to do the deed. Barton had been essentially selling his daughter's ass to get at somebody he disliked. It was fucking sick shit anyway you looked at it. Growing up, Marshall had seen signs of the kind of ultra-violence that Finn was capable of. He'd seen it where his sisters and older brothers hadn't. Deep down inside, he would honestly have said he was afraid of Finn the Human because the big man was on the knife-edge of violence.

It was there in his eyes in unguarded moments–moments where some shitbag or other edged up on The Line. Marshall had edged up on that line a couple of times when he was younger and stupider. Honestly, the whole thing with Shoko had half been about creepin' up on the line. Fate had stopped him, and he was glad for that. He was glad to have learned who his family was. At the same time, the young man who'd become the Vampire King still sometimes wondered. What would it take? What kind of evil shit would drive Finn over the edge? Now he knew, and the thought made his blood run cold. It was a lesson, though, and a reminder. Don't do evil shit to kids. The larger lesson? Finn was on the edge of his own darkness, risking losing his soul for people he might not even know.

"My mind is on _you_, honey," Cherry retorted. "I'm afraid for you. I'm afraid and horrified to know that I'm partly responsible for your condition." "You didn't make me do shitty things to people from the time I could wipe my own ass," Marshall muttered. He'd been on that slope a long, long time before he found himself in that old lab in the mountains. "I want you to consider some things," she said. He knew exactly where she was going to go, and he found himself wondering how many times his dad had held the same conversation with his mom.

Marceline Abadeer had reveled in her ability to be an invisible dick to any and everybody she met. Terrorize some superstitious locals with a horde of skeletons for the kicks? Marcie Abadeer had done it. Conjure up a few ghosts to frighten people at a show? Yeah, been there. Creep into somebody's space all invisible and gaslight them? She'd done it to a couple of boyfriends who pissed her off. Marceline used to boast about the things she'd done, little realizing that she was growing ever closer to darkness with every dick thing she did.

The thin man glanced away, but Cherry didn't let him go too far. Twining her fingers in his, she remarked, "power is temptation... Ask me how I know that..." Marshall flinched. Of all the people in the family, the only people not to be shocked by the feel of his darkness were his dad–and Cherry. "You're now my project," she said. "I'm responsible for some of how you came to be in this place–a soul that had nothing to do with my war..." Question was, who was looking after _her_? She was just as messed up. No sooner had Marshall had that thought than Finn passed by, almost as if he were answering the question, his hand brushing his son's shoulder, conveying the love he had for his boy without his saying a word.

Meanwhile, up at the far end of the room, the Empress sat staring at her husband and the mystery woman, worry and puzzlement naked on her face. Marshall and Cherry, sitting in a corner of the salon. Talking. They were talking in low voices as Finn passed them by. It was a weird sight to Connie. It was completely normal to someone who knew Cherry was a mom. From Simone's view, Cherry made the perfect choice. She'd done her best to help Marshall, but she had a handicap. She approached the business from the position of a person who knew nothing of what it was like to be consumed by darkness as he was. But Cherry knew. She knew the rage and hate that motivated their stepson.

"You're going to be fine," Simone remarked, drawing Connie's attention back to her. "You're part of this family, Connie," the Ice Queen reminded her. It was as if she knew exactly what Connie was thinking. Insistently, Simone said, "I was never more alone than when I was going mad, but my family saved me. I was alone again when I woke up in that hospital to find my husband missing and my world turned upside down. My family was there to catch me again. You're part of this thing of ours, and _we're_ always here to catch you."

Down at the end of the compartment, Marshall rose from the table. With a sigh, Connie said, "I guess it's time to go. I'll..." "_We_ will be in touch," Simone insisted. "We're gonna' stop by... See the grand-kids. Ok?" "Ok," said Connie, and she meant it. With a smile on her face, she turned and headed down the aisle to join her husband.

As they stepped outside, the thin man turned his face to the west–to the sun he never got to feel anymore. Connie could feel the mood on him. She'd been striving with all her might to break through the wall he'd built around himself. Now she saw the way. Twining her fingers in his, she lay her head on his shoulder, reminding him that he wasn't alone. Shaking off the mood, the thin man said, "let's get home. Shit's going to get real when they find out the Queen Bee's missing." Dudes would start maneuvering, and Marshall wanted to spare Aerwin the grief while they could. It was like Shoko all over again–one lone girl holding up the whole damned show, with a hundred shitbags trying to tear her down for fun and profit. The pair stepped off, bound for their own train.

**Finn's family saves the day. Marshall is still a lech. And some heart-warming family moments amidst the tragedy.**


	33. Chapter 33

Chapter 33:

As the sun began to peek over the horizon, Sarah Mertens walked into the laboratory to find the place empty. Everything was gone. The prototype, its control box, and all the jugs of fuel she'd brewed up–along with her annoying lab-partner. A shiver of alarm went through her. Blargetha was missing. She was supposed to be watching over the irritating bitch and keeping her out of trouble. She'd spent the night in the nursery, staring at walls and thinking unhappy thoughts. She'd honestly been getting little in the way of work done the last few days... weeks? She was letting people down, and she knew it.

Striding into the space, her keen eyes scanned the scene, picking out a scrap of paper from a computer printout tucked under a piece of broken fuel-pump on Blargetha's workbench. Changing course, the tall beauty went up to the table and slipped the paper out from under the jagged piece of metal. It was Blargetha's handwriting. "Gone to the proving ground. See you at ten." Sarah frowned at the page. What did this mean? She was a little afraid of what the bitch was up to. The prototype was fitted with weapons strong enough to kill a humanoid from a thousand feet in the air.

Rushing out of the room, she started dialing up friends and family, going down the line until she got to Finn. Mostly she got mailboxes. It was early enough in the day that some of the family was still in the shower. Others might be already on their way to the proving ground. Her husband was due to arrive home within the hour. The phone rang for several minutes and rang some more. When voice-mail picked up, the android-woman hung up and dialed again. Finally, Finn answered. "Sarah," he greeted her. His voice sounded strained and mildly irritated. "Blargetha's gone to the proving ground alone," she said. "I think she left last night." "I told her to take the prototype to the proving ground," he replied. "Where have you been? She said she hadn't seen you in two days..." Sarah flushed to her hair.

Finn said, "I'm going to be at the proving ground in an hour. The cabinet needs to see some progress. Please make sure that the demonstration is a success." There was a lot riding on this. He was supposed to be protecting Ooo from aliens. They needed those weapons. Soon. "I-I'll be there," Sarah replied. She hung up and rushed for the stairs, her heart pounding with worry. She was failing. She had been so worried about the future, she was failing the present. Arriving in the garage, she took the first vehicle she came to, tearing out of the garage and out onto the streets as if hell was chasing her.

Behind her, the presumptive heir to the throne awoke to the surprise of a second body in bed with him. Bill the Human had gone to sleep in Olesia's arms after a long day on the line dealing with the usual from his dad's Epic Princess Problem. The trouble of the day was the noise from the Elbownians and their friends on the council about simply moving into the bandit lands and taking them over. The Bandit Kingdoms had been trouble since before Billy was born. His dad had fought in a couple of ugly wars there with Jake at his side, when one bandit-lord or another got out of pocket and decided that they would make moves on their neighbors. Naturally, the princesses thought that moving the Elbownians into the power-vacuum there would be the perfect solution. They'd get to stop paying to take care of Bathilde's peeps, and the bandits would get smashed down.

Billy had brutally disabused them of the notion. He'd even dared Bonnie's wrath to shut the whole business down. She'd screamed at him for over an hour in private chambers after the showdown. He'd simply cut her off at the knees by pointing out the very real reality that she would be guilty of _stealing_ from those people–taking their land at the point of a gun for somebody else's benefit. There were a lot of people there who _weren't_ raising hell. The Bandit Lands were the crossroads of the civilized kingdoms with peeps from Warrior Kingdom, Dons from Engagement Ring Kingdom, and farmers out of Purple Kingdom all doing their best to make a living on land that was broken, mountainous, and often barren. After he pointed out the unfairness and cruelty of _taking_ their shit, Bonnie had stormed out in tears, making him feel pretty fucking awful, but he'd stuck to his guns.

Olesia had greeted him at home with a nice dinner to help him relax after the misery he'd been through. He'd been wound up and miserable, and all he'd really ended up doing after that was sitting there, staring into space, and all but ignoring her. In the end, the elemental girl had dragged him off to her room to sleep, using the warmth of her body to ease his taught and aching muscles. That was how he'd drifted off–with the heat of O's body against his back.

He'd awakened to the strange, herbal scent of Abeiuwa's body under his very nose–her plump tits practically staring him in the eye. It was a helluva wake-up for a man who'd been expecting fireworks. Far from screaming though, Abeiuwa had yawned, crawled out of bed, and insisted he go out on a run with her. Returning to the suite they shared, he'd found Olesia dressed and waiting with breakfast. Saying nothing at all about that, Abeiuwa helped herself before jumping in the shower.

"Your father called," said the plump girl, when the tall princess had gone. "There's some big meeting out at the Banana Guard's drill-field. Ten-sharp. He said not to be late." "Thanks," he mumbled. Pushing back from the table, the big man headed for one of the showers, wondering as he did, what he was going to do with this and wondering how Noemi and Rags were going to react.

As Billy stood in the shower, rehearsing explanations for his current situation, a far more unpleasant encounter was taking place south and east of the Candy Kingdom. The Royal Train was sitting on a siding outside a sleepy village waiting on a visit from the King's unpleasant ally. Finn had seen little of his spymaster since they'd parted ways after getting out of the quarantine room. He'd reasoned that he'd told the Lady of Spies what he wanted, and he expected she'd be getting about doing it. Now he had something more urgent that he needed.

The Agent Princess found her erstwhile _master_ sitting in a corner of his private car with the gadgets that his princesses had built for him. There were many amongst her people who hungered to be able to tap into the communications between the King and his tame princesses. Some were allies of hers. Others were bitter enemies. Orzsebet herself ached to know some of what he was up to. It would have helped her deal with him if she knew what he was planning.

"You called," Orzsebet muttered? She sounded irritated. Ignoring her attitude, Finn nodded. The private car was empty around them. Simone had flown back to Wizard City to deal with the latest foolishness there. Cherry had gotten off the train in the middle of the night on an empty platform in the middle of nowhere and _disappeared_. He knew what that was about. She was going to be dealing with the ugly that was the Underworld. It wasn't his wife that had left them. It was the Capo di tutti Capi that had gotten off his train. Finn was alone. Again. He was supposed to be the richest man in the world, but he felt worse than the poorest right now.

"I need information," he said. The thin woman glared at him. What did he think she was doing? Throwing a phone on the table between them, the big man said, "that belonged to the former Consort of Bee Kingdom. He arranged to hand over his wife to agents of the Bandit Princess..." It was the same icy dead calm that gave her the willies. Former. Likely the _former_ consort had become a corpse. "It's easier to ask questions when they're alive," muttered the Agent Princess. His face flushed, telling her that she was right. "You should leave such matters to me," Orzsebet murmured. "I was left with little choice," Finn retorted.

Nodding at the phone, the big man said, "his contacts and other information are there. I know you have contacts with InterFone..." The tall woman kept her face carefully neutral. The truth was that InterFone was one of a number of businesses the FIRM kept a controlling interest in. Oh, the princesses _thought_ they controlled InterFone. Bonnibel Bubblegum thought that she controlled it by virtue of the technology she had provided. The Grid-Face People thought that they controlled it by virtue of the infrastructure they'd built, transporting the transmitters all over Ooo. The Privy Council even _appointed_ the president of InterFone. Of course, like Orzsebet, said president was always groomed by the FIRM, his or her rise carefully engineered.

"Pull what you can out of the phone," said the King. "I need to know where the Queen Bee might have been taken. Leave no stone unturned." Taking the phone, the skinny spy slipped it into her pocket, announcing, "as you wish." She turned to go. "Who hit you," he asked," and why?" The thin woman stopped where she was. "It's internal business," she replied. "Not your concern." Without a further word, she started walking, heading up the aisle to the door. As her hand grasped the knob, a whisper at her ear announced, "the Lady of Spies is my creature. That makes it my business. You can go, Orzsebet."

When she glanced back, he was still in his seat. Terror filled her heart at the shocking reminder of his power, and she fumbled with the door for several moments before finally managing to get it open. Not long after she'd left the train, the engine began to chug, straining against the weight of the carriages as the train moved off. Orzsebet's fingers stroked the phone in her pocket, as she thought of how it might have happened. She thought of the twisted construct attached to his elbow twining itself about the hapless Consort. And twisting. A shudder went down her spine as she turned to go.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, Sarah came tearing up to the Banana Guard's drill field with a squeal of brakes and the roar of an overworked engine. Barely taking the time to shut the truck off, she jumped out and went rushing across the field. Blargetha heard rather than saw the android-girl arrive. She was busy setting up the control-pedestal and far more invested in that than the her irritating _partner's_ antics. For a machine, the android was behaving in an irritatingly irrational manner.

Something had come loose in the control pedestal during the move over from the lab, and the younger slime-princess had her face buried in the guts of the machine. Sarah came striding up to find dozens of Banana Guards out in the field, setting up arrays of targets. Nearer to hand, their deadly toy sat on a cradle on the back of a trailer, hitched up to the back of a second Banana-Guard truck. Her mind was in a bit of turmoil as she approached. She'd checked the source-code for tricks. She'd checked the wiring for traps that her evil counterpart might have inserted. _You checked the _design_,_ she thought. Honestly, she hadn't always been present when Blargetha was writing code or soldering boards.

"Ok," she announced, "where are we at?" The slime princess waved her away. Sarah grabbed her by the shoulder and pulled her away from the console. "Ok," she muttered, "that's really gross..." Shrinking her elongated face and eyeballs back to normal, the slime-princess retorted, "you had to stop me from working sweet-cheeks. You get what you get." "Blargetha," growled Hurletta! The younger sister rolled her eyes. What was _she_ doing here? "Must you go out of your way to be offensive," the older sister demanded? "Working, 'Letta," Blargetha retorted, "but you don't know much about that, do you?"

For a wonder, Hurletta backed down. "Where are we at," she asked? "I have to present something to the Privy Council. Tomorrow." With a sigh and an irritated toss of her head, Blargetha retorted, "I told him to put them off..." As if _she_ were in charge of this. "This isn't going to wait forever," Hurletta retorted. "We've been spending piles of money accumulating the things you asked for. This isn't just _your_ neck, sister. It's everybody's." Dusting her face off, Blargetha replied, "the machine will fly, 'Letta. The control console is giving me trouble. My experience with electromagnetism is weak..." Sarah blushed. She was supposed to be working on the radio control circuits. She'd been... moping.

"What's it doing," asked the android-woman? "I think there's something loose inside," Blargetha replied. "Maybe a wave-guide... The signal's weak. The machine kept returning to its cradle on fail-safe..." "It flies," Hurletta burbled? Blargetha rolled her eyes. Hadn't she just said as much?! Spying Nadia strolling across the field towards them, Sarah murmured, "I have a solution..."

Finn arrived on the scene to find several of his wives and councilors gathered around the control console. Nearer to hand was Billy and Abeiuwa, who'd just gotten out of a car of their own. "Hey," he greeted his old flame. He'd been a little weirded out by the whole thing with Billy dating old girlfriends of his. Maybe it _was_ something he'd passed on to his son. Now he was over it, and he wished the younger man the best of luck. "Finn," the Jungle Princess greeted him. "Glad to see you back, dad," Billy announced. Finn knew what that was about. His son was feeling the strain of holding down the fort, and he wanted to get 'out from under'. The _King's_ expression suggested that maybe the job wasn't done. "We'll talk," said Finn, as he stepped off, headed across the field to where his wives and councilors were.

As they approached, Billy took note of several things. Blargetha was here. She was standing off to one side, wearing a dress that would have been fashionable if it wasn't splotched with grease and chemical stains. Her sister was hovering nearby, looking nervous and unhappy. And Sarah was standing behind the Grid-Face Princess, while a long cable ran between the port behind the android's ear and into the port on Princess Nadia's neck. "Ok," rumbled Billy. "That's weird..."

Things were about to get a little weirder. As Finn approached, Bonnie announced, "we're ready, Your Majesty." Lollipop was wielding a video-camera, while BMO stood by to edit the footage on the spot. Nothing was being left to chance. They'd spent a lot of money already on this effort, and they had supplies stacked up at Phoebe's secret weapons-works to build more of these things. "Let's do this," Finn announced, as if he saw two of his girls plugged into each other every day.

As Billy watched, Sarah closed her eyes. The heavy, barrel-shaped machine, with its stubby wings and x-shaped tail slowly rose from the trailer it rested on. Seeing that Billy was watching the thing, Blargetha declared, "we're aiming to have containers like the land-machines... We'll position them on the highest mountains..." It took a moment. Billy nodded, as he realized that it would be easier to reach space from the top of a mountain.

The machine rose slowly to a hundred feet, with several of the witness frowning and Hurletta voicing concerns that it was moving pretty slowly. "It's doing checkout, dummy," Blargetha snapped. "Walk before you can run. We don't have time to rebuild the thing if it faults..." The Slime Princess bristled, but Finn shushed her. In a machine voice, Sarah announced, "Flight Control checks complete. Fuel and Oil Pressure are positive. Anti-gravity generator is functioning in tolerance..." It was weird to hear her speaking that way. It reminded Billy of the days after the Dipped got run down.

Now the thing suddenly shot skyward. It turned its nose skyward, the engine in the rear ignited, and the thing tore out of there like a bat out of hell. It was lost to sight in moments. Hurletta squealed in fear! Had it gone out of control. "Gather-guide underway," Sarah announced in her machine voice. As she spoke, she began to turn Nadia this way and that, and Billy found himself remembering an absurd fact. Nadia kept radio antennae inside her breasts. His face went red hot as he realized how his stepmoms were controlling the flying machine.

The robot zoomed down out of the sky, making simulated bombing runs against the target, swooping past at high speed. "Why doesn't it shoot," Blargetha demanded? "Nadia won't touch weapons," Finn rumbled. Sarah knew that. The two had become surprisingly close with Sarah often taking the cyborg princess's side of things. Again and again the thing climbed and dove at the targets, with Lollipop recording. Nadia was getting a little sweaty from the effort.

Finally, Finn announced, "BMO? Do we have enough footage to cut?" "Yes, Finn," said BMO. "I can create a thirty-minute video production." "Ok," said the King. Turning to his wives, Finn said, "shut it down." "Sending failsafe," Sarah replied. Moments later, with a shudder, Sarah looked up from what she'd been doing, releasing her grip on Nadia's shoulders. The machine came zooming up, juddering to a halt in mid-air. Slowly it settled onto its cradle with a soft, metallic clunk. Gently, Sarah eased the interface jack out of Nadia's neck. "Can you move," she asked? With a shiver, the cyborg raised her left arm. "Yeah," she said, "I'm fine." Unzipping to get some air on her overheated and sweaty boobies, the Grid-Face Princess showed just how _fine_ she was. Abeiuwa elbowed Billy sharply, causing him to glance away.

The King blew out of there just as he'd blown in, likely heading back to his office. "Shouldn't you go too," Abeiuwa asked? Billy's face flushed at the reminder. Her eyes said it. Don't shirk. Giving her a peck on the cheek, the younger man said, "see you tonight. Hopefully." He too headed off, rushing after his dad. The older woman licked her lips as she watched that hard ass stride away from her. "Cougar," Nadia teased. The Mistress of the Southern Jungle gave her a harumph. "So, when do we make the exchange," asked the Grid-Face Princess? "In due time," Abeiuwa retorted. "I've sent orders to gather the material. You can rest assured that it will be ready when the machine is ready. When do you start building the nodes?" It was tit-for-tat, but that was the nature of their relationship. "Gimme' a few days to get the survey team on the ground," Nadia chuckled. "I'm not Fionna, after all."

The Ice-Prince exited his dad's office at seven that evening having eaten a pretty lousy dinner there at his dad's desk. He'd missed seeing Abeiuwa, and he'd had to give up his evening's phone-call with Rags, Noemi, and his kids. It was another unsubtle reminder of what was waiting on him if he was dumb enough to put a crown on his head. _You're not going to get a choice, Bill,_ he thought. Kat was right. They weren't going to give him a choice. His dad had fought it tooth and nail. Looking back, Billy could see it. He could have been Warlord of Ooo the day he racked up the last alien corpse. They had been ready for it, Ooo's princess population–ready and willing to make the problems _Finn's_ responsibility.

As Billy headed upstairs to try and find his ladies, Finn turned the other direction, headed downstairs. He was due to see 'Letta tonight. He'd missed going dancing with her. He'd promised he'd take her when he got out of that fucking quarantine ward, but he'd headed east to see Talia instead. After, he'd gone straight to Bee Kingdom. Likely, he'd be leaving again, and he wanted to give her a little time before the choice got taken away. Unfortunately, he had one last drill to take care of.

Heading down into the basement, the big man sought out the lab where Blargetha worked on the deadly secrets he'd set her to conjuring up. The flying war-machine had been a great success, but he wanted to make sure that they were ready to carry things forward. He wanted no delays. His mind wanted to conjure foes waiting out there in the great empty of space to steal the wretched secret buried in Ooo's heart.

Arriving at the door of the lab, he found the evil genius standing over a pile of the circuit-things with a cup of coffee in her hand. As he strolled in, her jury-rigged alarm tripped, alerting her to his presence. Turning to face him, she greeted him with a wary, "Finn..." "Blargetha," Finn replied, as he came striding up. "I trust that you're satisfied," she said. "We had a small malfunction with the control pedestal. Sarah..." "Where _is_ Sarah," he asked? His eyes flicked to the room in the back, where Sarah had been closeting herself. The fallen princess gave him a harumph. "Sulking or something," she said. "I don't know why Bonnie decided she had to have emotions..." Finn glared at the plump woman. "You'd get better work out of her if she didn't, Finn," the slime-princess retorted. "She's been... fucking odd lately."

Frowning, his face gone to worry, the big man rumbled, "how... odd...?" "Angry when there's no reason to be, shirking her piece of the work... Hiding out from the rest of your peeps," said Blargetha. "It's damned _odd_ for a machine..." It wasn't to Finn, but he didn't know what to do for what ailed his wife. It was a lot like Bonnie used to get when she was having a 'Shoko' moment, or like Marcie when she was thinking about her lonely, _empty_ world. Unfortunately, he didn't even have time to track Sarah down to try and work on the problem. "Make sure the plans get to Fire Kingdom," he said. "Lollipop already took them," said the evil genius. "There's a set in the vaults. There's two sets headed by courier to Fire Kingdom." That last part came out in a nervous tone. Her usefulness was very close to its end.

With an evil grin, Finn slapped the plush princess on her big, curvy ass, making her yelp and almost drop the coffee. It was intended to terrorize her, but Blargetha gave him a strange, almost _calculating_ look. "Is that all you're ever going to do," she asked? Finn's head whipped around. Those plump, pouty lips parted in a smile as she said, "you didn't even spank me–just slapped my ass..." Finn babbled something inarticulate, and she knew she had him buffaloed. Stepping in front of him, she reached out and straightened his tie, as she said, "slapping my ass is so pedestrian when you could do _anything_ you wanted..." Glancing up at him, she said, "you could even _order_ me to do what you wanted... maybe tell me to bend over that table... or lay down and spread it for you..."

The big man's face went red hot, not least because of his lust for Hurletta. Maja had made the two sisters into almost-perfect humanoid women, and he'd come to a point where he so wanted to _fuck_ 'Letta. "You can rest for now, Princess Blargetha," the big man rumbled. "I'll have some of your things provided if you'd like." Without a further word, he turned and strode away. The plump princess watched him go with a smile on her face.

It was a disturbed Finn that walked into Hurletta's suite thirty minutes later. The mood was thick on him, and the Slime Princess could see it in his eyes. There was something bothering him–a _lot_ actually. Maybe it was Breezy's abduction. Maybe it was the general atmosphere of lurking doom. They still had thousands of starving camped out on the border with his wife, daughter, and grandkids under chronic threat. They still had the Bandit Princess out there doing _something_. Or maybe it was something else. She wanted to get him to lay down his burdens, but she wasn't really sure how to do that without crossing some dangerous lines. That wasn't really what a man was supposed to do–empty himself in front of a woman, even when he'd known her for most of their collective life.

As Hurletta the Slime Princess bustled about, getting ready to go, Finn stood at the window, staring out at the darkened landscape of the Candy Kingdom. He might have been remembering earlier, happier times. It was hard to say. He didn't speak much, responding mostly in grunts and murmurs. Even when his _date_ came out of the bedroom wearing something sexy, he hardly seemed to respond.

"You don't feel much like dancing," Hurletta murmured. It wasn't really a question. Flushing, Finn glanced away. "We don't have to go," she said. "I made a promise," he muttered. "Is that all I am to you," she asked? "A promise?" The big man's face darkened, and he studied her a moment. "Yes," he rumbled, "and no." The way he said it sounded _conflicted_. Staring into her eyes, the big man said, "I'm trapped by all the duties that pull at me, 'Letta. I'm trapped because I want, more than anything, to spend time with you because you've been my friend for years, and I haven't been much of a friend lately. I dump my work on you, and I blitz out of town because..." "...because you're the King, and the world is resting on your shoulders," Hurletta replied. They were getting somewhere.

Advancing on him, the plump woman replied, "I take the work and gladly because... well... It's a way to see you." Stopping within his space, the plush princess said, "I do the work because I love you, and you're struggling... The world is crushing you, and I can help, even if it's only a little." Those words were... disturbing. It was a disturbing echo of his earlier _conversation_ with Blargetha, where she'd almost seemed to take a shot at him. Taking a chance, she slipped her arms around him and hugged him. Resting her chin on his shoulder, the plush pretty murmured, "we don't have to go anywhere. Let's just stay here." The big man found himself standing there, rocking back and forth with the plump woman. It reminded him, in a lot of ways, of the awkward way he used to dance before the desires of his wives and the pressures of being a figure in Bonnie's government.

Taking 'Letta into his arms, the big man began to twirl her around the room, holding her close to him, as he danced to the imaginary strains of her favorite dancing music. The Slime Princess let herself be swept away. It was almost magical the way he could do that to her. Finn could drive away the blues with just a couple of words–or a gesture like this. On his side, it was a pleasant moment for Finn as well. Between his worries over Breezy, the misery of constantly seeing people he cared for leave him, and the stress of his evil job, this was a beautiful moment for the King of Ooo. He was definitely enjoying this, in spite of the worry. Arms around his old, old friend, the big man lost himself in the feel of a woman in his arms.

Glancing up, Hurletta stared into his eyes a moment. Stepping back, she took hold of his arm and pulled him towards her bedroom. Alarms went off in the big man's head. This was no-bueno. At the same time, he was a little afraid of rejecting her. He'd rejected her over and over and over when they were young. He'd done his best to be nice about it, pretending that he didn't know what she was suggesting. Now, though...? He couldn't really pretend he didn't know why a girl was leading him towards her bedroom.

But there was a complication here.

The 'Letta who'd shamelessly thrown herself at him hadn't been victimized by a bunch of mercenaries. She hadn't lived through the hell of a war in captivity under threat of murder by her sister's allies. And Finn hadn't been both tempted and repelled. He was fucking tempted to bang the shit out of Hurletta and repelled to be having those thoughts about somebody who'd been through what she'd gone through. _Toast went through it too, Finn,_ the big man reminded himself. He'd been shocked to have Toaster basically jump him in his office, and now he found himself remembering something Dr. P had said. Even the worst wounds could be healed if they didn't kill you.

Hundreds of miles away, Chelsea the Wax Hustler sat fuming. Fedir Brutko had been ducking getting involved in things the last few days, cursing the ogress the whole time. His mistress was almost casual with murder when she was in a mood like this, and the ogress had left him with the mess. In the end, no amount of ducking and dodging could work forever, though. After spending much of his time overseeing the movement of men and weapons to key places, the jumped-up bandit finally found himself with no more excuses for avoiding the summons.

The anger was in her eyes the moment he walked into her presence. _Calm,_ the thug told himself. It was important to remain calm. If he was calm–if he made it seem that he was just doing the things she asked–he might keep his skin. Stopping just within reach of the evil harridan, the bandit offered, "the weapons are in place, my lady." Chelsea stopped right in her tracks. She'd been ready to gut him. She'd... been enraged. She'd thought he was ducking her. "And the men," she breathed. "Almost there," he said. "We've misplaced one company. Their travel papers had errors." Frowning, Chelsea growled, "but you'll have them in place? Yes?" "They will be in position, but we're still short the five-hundred men we were promised."

We. That was the key word. We're just one big happy army. Doing the Lady Chelsea's bidding. Getting shit done. _We_ were going to go after the King of Ooo's jugular, while Fedir Brutko slipped away in the darkness to live another day. They were weeks out from executing her mad little plan. Assuming she had the guts to carry it forward without the ogress's help. Chelsea spat curses. Drumming on the table with her venomed nails, she muttered curses, as Fedir tried to ignore the poison stains on the furniture. "I'll find the men," she said at last. "Thank-you, Fedir. You are a good servant." The thug gave her a bow, risking murder. A tremor of fear touched him when she reached out and stroked his face. "We're going to win," she said. "I'm going to reward you for your good faith. Good night." No more than that. Straightening, Fedir Brutko forced his trembling body to walk slowly back across the room and out the door.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, Finn found himself laying on his side in the wet spot, staring into 'Letta's worried face. Girls. The bane of his existence. "Did you like it," Hurletta asked? The big man frowned at her in puzzlement. It wasn't usually the _girl_ asking that question. Softly, the plump woman told him about the men who'd abused her and how they'd told her how worthless she was. When she'd dared to ask them why they kept coming back, they'd given her a cruel answer–because they _could_. Rolling the plump woman on her back, the big man put his lips to her ear and whispered, "it was wonderful." His hands caressed her flanks as he said it, making her shiver. "I had a good time with a beautiful girl," he said. The plump girl wrapped her arms around him and glued her lips to his the way she'd always longed to do it.

Hours later, the ringing of a phone awoke Finn the King. Whispering curses, he slipped out of bed and over to the pants he'd left on the table. Taking out his phone and flicking it open, he murmured, "go..." As Hurletta lay snoring, the King listened to the voice on the other end of the line as she laid out what she'd found. It was a lead on Breezy's whereabouts. It was the best information they'd found. "I'll be there in the morning," Finn announced, as he hung up. Fifteen minutes later, the King slipped silently out of the hotel suite, his bodyguard falling in at his back, leaving the sleeping princess in her bed alone. He intended to make her understand that, though, truthfully, he feared she understood it all too well.

**Took me a while to finish this one. Work is, once again, bringing me grief. The war-machine now has an air-force. And Blargetha is looking for a new reason to keep breathing.**


	34. Chapter 34

Chapter 34:

The ruins of the old factory were calling to her. Sitting at the window, staring out at the shadows of broken stone walls, her mind conjured specters. She saw the foreman, who'd burned alive inside. She saw the faces of the other children who'd worked there as slaves. The distant lords of the eastern empire hadn't been very concerned with what went on in the ruined lands to their west. The traders brought them cloth to be made into clothing. The traders brought them food to fill the tables of their citizens. In spite of or perhaps _because of _their powers to compel truth from others, the lords of the east rarely dug too deeply into what went on beyond their borders.

The Bandit Princess had risen to womanhood in a world of brutality where your life could be taken for looking at someone of a higher caste. She'd survived that world and even learned to thrive in it, meting out brutality of her own, aided by her now-dead half-brother. The two siblings had risen to power on their wits, killing any who got in their way. When the Thief King approached her to run operations on this side of the world, Peihong had joyously signed on for the chance to destroy the pretty little kingdom that had been the source of her childhood suffering.

After the madwoman met her end, the Bandit Princess had been somewhat at loose ends. She'd found herself with a stockpile of weapons, a pile of money, and no master to tell her what to do. She'd woken to a world that she'd never dreamed existed with power to do whatever she wished to do. Her adherents had counseled her to take power. Her brother counseled vengeance. Peihong had steered a course in the middle, stealing power where she could but with the steady goal of vengeance on the world that had thrived on _her_ suffering.

The men who counseled for inaction had met their ends, one by one. Honestly, she hadn't even realized it herself. One by one, the men who'd wanted to take the power they had and carve a kingdom out of the wastes had gone into the fire to fuel her dreams of smashing pretty little Princess Sakura and her supposedly peaceful kingdom. Her brother's doing. Looking back, Peihong was certain her brother had removed anybody who exerted moderating influence on her. It was her brother that pushed her dreams of finding or building vengeance weapons, and it was her brother that introduced the ogress to Chelsea the Wax Hustler.

She'd been mourning her brother's death, and now she found herself cursing him. She'd always imagined him as angling to take her soul–offering her earthly power for the right to her soul when she eventually died. Never had she imagined that he was slowly coaxing her down the road to perdition–inciting her to ever more ugly acts and putting her on a collision-course with the people who could end her existence.

She was stuck on this road now.

Her forces were in disarray. The men who'd been menacing the Lizards had been scattered and the ruse revealed, and it appeared that Chelsea had raided the troops at the Wall, taking hundreds of them further south for her idiotic project. Her forces in the west were in disarray. Her project to build a weapon capable of smashing cities and holding the Empire of Ooo hostage had run aground. She had neither the weapon, nor the means to deliver it. She was in a jam. The only cards she had to play right now were her hostage and the King's emotions. That brought her right back to her unhappy vigil. She'd been sitting here in this office, unable to sleep, staring out the window at the old factory all night. She'd seemingly started life there. Her mind feared her life was coming to a swift, premature, and _inevitable_ end. She needed a plan, but a rising sense of panic was interfering with her ability to craft one.

On the far side of the world, Orzsebet the Agent Princess stood before her master waiting on his attention. She'd gone right to work on the matter of the missing Queen Bee. Anxious to secure her position against her own hostile councilors, she'd thrown all her resources at the problem and come up with a lead not just to who might have taken the missing woman, but where she was physically located. Unfortunately, the King of Ooo hardly seemed interested in what she had to say, even though he'd been the one to summon _her_ to give her the job. "Are you listening," the spymaster growled? The big man nodded. His face was focused on the machine in front of him. He was looking at a pack of kids, of all things. The rugrats were all snug in their beds with their nursemaid going from bed to bed, tucking them in. It made no sense to her that he was so invested in that when one of his vassals was missing.

Glancing up into her brown eyes, the big man said, "why should I trust this information?" Orzsebet stopped cold and stared at him. His blue eyes burned into hers. "Every lead you brought me in the east came with an ambush or trap," the big man rumbled. "Why should I trust this information? What makes you believe that there's something there worth risking lives on?" The spy opened her mouth and shut it again when no words would come. He could see the terror in her eyes. With scant trust for the Lady of Spies, he knew he had to control Orzsebet as closely as possible. In the east, the big man had come to realize just how much fear motivated her to obey. Nodding, the King of Ooo man said, "you will bring me some measure of proof, Princess Orzsebet. Before I risk lives, I require proof that your lead has value. You may go." Just like that. Defeated, Orzsebet got on her way, wondering/worrying about how she was going to find the proof he demanded before their prize got away.

Hundreds of miles to the north, the Warrior Princess stood staring out at the dirty, dangerous camp in the wilderness. Something was stirring. She'd seen signs of it for weeks now. Where they had been making progress, there was now obstinacy. Where people once greeted them with smiles and cheers, they now saw furtive stares and whispers. Where they'd seen cooperation, they now saw dangerous signs of looming conflict. Many of the men had gone missing from the camp and couldn't be found. Their families pretended that they had never been there. Scouts in the wilderness had seen hints that maybe some of the missing males were _out there_. They were planning something dangerous.

"Alright," yawned Fionna, "what was the reason for your summons?" Those words might have been from a colleague if Ingrid didn't recognize the voice as Fionna's. She'd heard her stepdaughter had spent most of the night tending her eldest. Mona had come down with a cough. The pretty blonde was standing behind her, just now, and Ingrid could see the younger woman in her mind's eye.

She'd be standing there with a baby on one or the other of her hips. She'd be dressed in what she called 'mom-pants'–ugly, baggy blue-jeans that did nothing to flatter her beautiful figure. Fionna seemed to be rising to the job of 'mother' better than Ingrid had been able to manage. Like her father. Ingrid had been having trouble with achieving that serenity. Maybe it was her _other_ persona. Maybe it was her upbringing in a world devoted to bloodshed. There were days she didn't know what to do with a child. Worse, there were days she didn't know what to do with _herself_. "We're going to have to kill some people, Fionna," Ingrid murmured.

Fionna nodded to herself. Her stepmother spoke that way. It was what it was. Ingrid talked about death as the unpleasant and everyday occurrence that it was. She was coldly antiseptic about it, and Fionna had grown to understand that death was as much a business as running a restaurant. "Who and why," asked the Bad Bunny? "Many of the men have gone into the woods," Ingrid replied. Which Fionna had noticed herself. Striding up alongside the warrior woman, the pretty blonde said, "there are other measures we can take to address the imminent risk of violence than systematic brutality, mother." Ingrid glanced over at the younger woman as those long words sank in. It must have been a late night indeed to produce that stream of overly-intellectual invective.

"Fionna," howled Ingrid! "You can't do that!" The pretty blonde had her big right booby hanging out for all to see with Nadine's cute little pink face attached to it as if it was the most natural thing in the world. Fionna yawned, "it's a natural process. I understood my father required you to nourish my younger brother this way." All the Royal Moms were supposed to be giving their Finn-Kids the 'good stuff' as her father put it. "Y-you put that away," howled the princess! "That's unseemly!" Thinking quickly, she whisked her cloak off and draped it over the young mommy's shoulders, 'hiding the evidence' as it were.

As Fionna and Ingrid Mertens had a deep, _philosophical_ discussion about motherhood, in the Lizard Kingdom, a very bored Marysia Okonski stood staring down at her host from atop the wall. Cunty-cyborg and the Lizard-Bitch were both almost standing down in the water. The very idea made the young elemental shiver. They were discussing plans to put up buildings there. To Marysia, it was a horrifically bad idea, and she scarcely understood why anyone would want to bother. She hardly understood anything the flesh-creatures did, honestly, though their mistress's return had caused the servants to react in ways that Masia was all too familiar with.

The gossiping had started up almost as if by magic, but that was often what happened in a Royal household. She'd seen–and engaged–in a little of it herself. She'd gossiped about Olesia and her eating habits. She'd even once hung a pair of the older girl's panties on a flagpole outside of school to really get Olesia's goat. The boys had called Olesia 'fat-ass' for two weeks after that. Unfortunately, the topic of conversation here in this Glob-forsaken place was _Marysia_. She'd been tempted to burn a couple of the more obnoxious servants to a crisp.

They talked about her clothes. They talked about her body. They talked about her... _defeat_ at the hands of those fucking flesh-creatures in the woods. That last really stung, but what stung the most was the incessant talk about the Fire Drop. She'd caught that bitch of a Princess sneering about it, and the servants had taken up the same pattern of insult, snickering about the stupid girl who wore an ugly red rock everywhere she went. She was tired of being in this place, was Marysia Okonski, and she wanted to get out, out, _out_ of this miserable land and get home where it was warm, and there was good food to eat.

Late that day, the King of Ooo found himself alone in the fortified hostel that Orzsebet's people had taken over. The big man sat going through text messages from Hurletta and worrying. The plump princess had nothing at all to say about what they'd done or any possible consequences. Indeed, it seemed almost as if she were devoted to behaving as if the whole business had never happened. It was odd to the point of being _eerie_, and it had the big man wanting to pick up the phone to call her. A piece of him wanted to call and talk and apologize, even if it had been 'Letta jumping _him_.

He'd worn a track in that thinking, bouncing between worries about his friend, worries about his own efforts to cling to some semblance of morality, and worries about Breezy. Now, as he found himself getting up to pace some more, his phone began to ring. "Go," Finn announced, as he flicked his phone on. A cold voice on the other end of the line declared, "the Lady of Spies is walking into a trap. Diego's Saw Mill is set to become her grave." The caller hung up just like that, leaving Finn no time to ask any questions at all. Not that he needed to. Rising, the King strode for the door, gathering on his coat as he did. He hadn't seen Orzsebet in hours. Now he knew why.

He'd sent the wench out to prove there was something to her lead. He'd wanted her to dig up evidence that Breezy was actually in Diego's Mill. He hadn't wanted her going to the mill itself. They'd played that game too many times in the east and come up short each time, coming close to getting butchered a time or two. Now it appeared that the Agent Princess had disobeyed him and gone out to prove her organization's words the hard way. He was going to wring her neck if she weren't already dead.

Hundreds of miles to the north, a brute of a man strode to the center of a small clearing under the watchful eyes of his lieutenants. Their hidden masters had been demanding action for days. The shrillness of those messages and the conflicting demands they carried both worried him and told him that matters were drawing to a close. He'd been ordered to send five-hundred men south to the mountains. Among the cliffs and high-mountain passes, his masters had found a way to get over the deadly fence that had kept their army of the damned from entering the civilized kingdoms. He'd sent the precious men he had to spare, two-hundred total.

Now, he was in the ugly position of carrying the business forward when he was down over two thousand men from the start. It helped not at all that morale was in the toilet, with none of the men anxious to fight the entrenched army on the other side of the field. Many men had seen the light when the elemental and the Ice Prince slaughtered their friends and neighbors. Those men's families had been abandoned in the wilds to starve to death or fend for themselves, however they managed to do it. In the rush back north and west, thousands had lost their lives, and the only way he'd held them all together was through the distribution of his carefully hoarded supplies of food and vital medicines.

Things had changed when they reached this place. The pressure had evaporated on his men. They'd had more food than they'd seen in more than a year. They'd seen medicines provided for their sick families and injured loved ones. Far from slaughtering them, the soldiers had been kind and generous in taking care of them. The King's daughter, Princess Fionna, had been in and out of the camp, seeming almost tireless in her efforts to see every person in a shelter against the brutal cold. How did you make the argument that they should attack the princess and her army when the pretty blonde had done so much for these men?

The Bandit Princess's warlord was in a bit of a bind, and he was rather nervous as he began to make his pitch to his officers. These were his most loyal men. Some of them had partaken of humanoid flesh in the east in Lizard Kingdom. They'd hitched their stars to his predecessor, sacrificing their souls just to put food on their family's tables. They'd all done evil things, and that was his one hope here. The young princess's evil stepmother had made it clear that she was hunting the men who'd eaten humanoid flesh. She was searching for the men who'd committed atrocities. Those men were going to be put to death. The King of Ooo had decreed it.

But some of these men might have taken their chances.

He'd heard the rumblings. Men talked when they thought their master wouldn't hear it. Several had suggested they just hunker down, come up with a story, and stick with it. If they all rehearsed the story–if they put the blame on those who'd died in the east–they'd escape punishment for their crimes. They'd go on living and maybe resettle in the Civilized Kingdoms. They'd get to put all of this behind them. The sentiment had been gaining ground these last few days as the Bandit Princess made increasingly shrill demands. He'd sent the weakest men out of the camp already, putting them among the two-hundred he'd sent to the mountains and making their families somebody else's problem.

Now, he was at the crux. He had to convince the rest to move tomorrow. The garrison had been shrinking. His scouts and spies had been counting camp fires, and the garrison was clearly shrinking. The remainder of the force guarding the hole in the Wall were more focused on feeding the hungry and tending the sick than anything else. If they could strike them hard and fast, they could be _through_ the opening and inside the Civilized Kingdoms before the King could send troops to stop them. There were farms and towns and cities waiting in the heartland, ripe for plunder. He just had to convince them to move.

"Hi," announced a female voice, as the thug began to speak. The battle-scarred bandit spun around to find a woman there. The pale princess was there, and, absurdly, she had a baby hanging from her left tit as if it were an appendage. "You guys are the problem," Fionna announced, as she stepped into the light of the fire. "My daddy wants to get those peeps into some kind of shelter and maybe build 'em a town, but you guys are causing trouble..." The warlord's blood chilled at those words. How did she know who they were?

With a yawn, the plush blonde announced, "been followin' you guys for days..." Uneasy faces flicked to their leader. He'd made them move out into the forest. He'd drawn attention to them. "I know who your families are," she said. It was almost as if she knew what they were thinking. Daddy says you have to die for eatin' peeps," announced the King's daughter, her dainty nose wrinkling in disgust. "I'm'a take care of your families," she declared. "I just need you not to resist, ok?" "Just like that," growled the warlord? Fionna nodded. "There's been too many folks getting killed," she insisted. "Daddy let's me have some money for stuff... I can take care of the kids and their moms... Nobody else needs to be hurt."

She was suggesting that they just lay down to be killed. More to the point, she knew their faces. Nobody here had his face covered. Even if she hadn't known who was who before, she knew now. Their hopes of hiding out evaporated, and it was clear to all of them that there wasn't any way they would get out from under their death sentences now.

The first man shot to his feet, but a jagged spear of grey crystal erupted from the ground, skewering him through his gizzard as he lunged forward. A gasp of pain left his lips, and then he began to scream. That woke the rest. As one, the pack of them leapt to their feet and rushed forward towards the pretty blonde. Fionna yawned, as a jagged glass lance pierced a second man and then a third. As the first of them reached her, she did a neat pirouette, causing Nadine to giggle, even as she tore the man's throat out with her diamond-hard nails. A spinning roundhouse kick did for a second, the hard crystalline structure of her bones smashing his ribs, as he went sprawling.

"Surrender," announced the Angel of Death, as she fell on the pack from behind, slashing and chopping with the demonic blade in her hands! "Surrender and face just punishment!" For Fionna, it was just like old times, as she rushed in to help her stepmom. The leader took a swing at Fi with a massive war-axe. Twisting out of the way, Fionna drove her hand up through his middle, shredding his guts. Ingrid chopped down the man at her back, removing both arms at the elbow as he would have swung at her stepdaughter, then taking his head off with the back-stroke.

Six men turned to run. A lattice of crystal shot up from the ground, blocking their way. As they turned to run again, crystal spears lanced up at them, taking down two of them. The other four ran into the forest, but they barely reached the edge of Fionna's keen eyesight. Sharpened glass shards cut their feet, slowing them down long enough for her to finish them off. Meanwhile, she and Ingrid danced with the last eight.

The Glass Witch seemed to be the threat, and six men went for Fionna, little realizing how dangerous the other woman was. Pressing her free hand into the chest of the man on her left, Ingrid caused his neck to shatter just as it would have when he dropped through the trap on the hanging-scaffold. Parrying the second man's stroke, she tapped him on the shoulder, causing his throat to crush inward–botched hanging, a bad way to go. As he dropped to his knees, his face already changing colors, the curvy princess strode past him. Fionna was in the middle of finishing off the last two of her opponents. As glass spears skewered the pair, Ingrid came face to face with a shock. "Fionna," she howled?! "You can't bring a baby to a battle!"

Hundreds of miles to the south, the Lady of Spies glared at her incompetent burglar. Inigo wasn't her first choice. He'd been sent down to lesser postings repeatedly for being a fuckup. Unfortunately, the ugly war going on within the heart of the FIRM had limited her ability to call the shots. She was on probation. There were men who wanted her dead, and she'd ducked that fate by the scantiest of margins. They feared the King of Ooo. They feared what he might do to them should they harm their 'leader'. At the same time, they weren't exactly hungry to put themselves out in support of _his_ goals.

"Get out of the way," snarled the Agent Princess. She came close to knifing the fool. Stepping into his place, she deftly tripped the tiny pins inside the lock. The door popped open with a minute _click_. _Well made,_ she thought. The lock was very well made–the kind of thing you used to safeguard things you cared for. This looked like it might be the place. Easing the door open, the thin woman crept inside with her fellows at her back. She was tempted and tempted again to call the outside man to get an idea for just what he was seeing. The King had been right. They'd sprung a lot of ambushes the hard way in the east, and she feared the reasons for that.

The quartet of spies crept down a set of narrow stairs in the chill darkness, as Orzsebet pondered her future. The sawmill was a maze, and it had taken a lot of work and back-tracking already to get to this point. She'd been unable to get much in the way of plans on the place. Her local agents had nothing to give her. At least that was what they _said_.

The FIRM's entrenched elite had a number of ways to get rid of _problems_. She was beginning to see the failures in the east as evidence that her fellows were fighting back against a man who seemed to care nothing at all for their wishes. She'd given up the FIRM's assets for _free_! That alone was reason for sanctions. After her release, her fellows had begun politely hinting that she find a way to make this whole business pay, and Orzsebet had been wracking her brain to come up with some way to broach the topic with the King before she found herself back in hock with the Committee. She'd been failing by degrees, and she feared half of it was the lack of progress on any of the tasks he'd set before her.

Woolgathering, the thin woman blundered into the back of the point man, who turned and promptly cussed her. The Agent Princess very nearly knifed him. Nobody talked to her that way! It was as the drag man was shushing the pair of them–and Orzsebet's hand was snaking down the back of her thigh towards the knife she kept there–that they heard the strange metallic clanging. The quartet immediately stopped where they were. Those sounds were ominous. As the Lady of Spies was reaching for the radio in her pocket, the point man shouted, "water!" Indeed a massive wave was coming at them from their right. Orzsebet flicked on her flashlight and spun towards the door they'd come through, just in time to see the door shut.

Finn the King skidded to a stop on the rocky bluff above the San Marco river. Just as he'd feared, the _abandoned_ saw mill was in full cry. The massive dam behind the mill had been opened, and water was pouring through the facility's massive waterworks. There was water there to power a thousand giant saws and more than enough to drown one fool woman. A part of him screamed. She was already dead. The dam was open, and there were a hundred ways for a body to be bashed to pieces inside the waterworks before even getting to the whole _drowning_ thing. "Rescue the Princess," he muttered. "One last time, Finn."

Blipping down the bluff, he came upon the first chunks of debris floating down the river. It was little bits of flotsam–the kind of shit that got jammed up in the works over time and then came blasting free when a big rush of water hit it. "No Agent-Bitch," he muttered, as he blipped up the river. Under a cloudless, moonlit night sky, he could see quite a bit. Bits of barrels. Splinters of scrap wood. His eyes scanned back and forth, ceaselessly. His mind screamed. She was dead. She was already dead. She had to be.

As he was pondering who he would even tell about her fate, he spotted the limp form, floating face down in the tumult on the far side of the river. He'd have to move fast. Blipping down the river to the low bridge there, he quickly blipped himself across to the other side. She was coming downstream fast. This was taking a lot out of him. He'd been laying off using the curse because of the toll it took. _One last burst,_ he told himself. Timing his jump, the big man blipped himself to a rocky outcropping that jutted out into the river, arriving just as Orzsebet swept past.

The King jerked the skinny girl out of the water and up onto the bank. He could immediately see that she was in distress–breathing her last. She was almost like a rag-doll in his hands–completely limp and still, her body icy cold. _Cold is good, man,_ he reminded himself. The cold would keep her alive a little longer. Drew had told him that when he'd accidentally drowned in an icy pond. He'd awoken in the Candy Clinic with an angry Doctor Princess standing over him. Those were the days. Drew had been one of many girls to turn him down back then, and now he knew why.

In the now, the tall man lay the Lady of Spies out on the bank and began chest compressions, forcing the water out of her lungs. Stopping occasionally, the King of Ooo leaned down and pressed his lips to Orzsebet's cold ones, forcing good air into her lungs before repeating the cycle. It was coldly methodical, just like Drew had always been when he came in with a boo-boo from his reckless lifestyle. He owed his wife a lot of apologies for the things he'd put her through. He found himself reflecting on that as, coughing and sputtering, the thin woman opened her eyes at last. The Lady of Spies woke, not in hell, as she'd expected when she was washed into the race for the sawmill's water-wheels, but in the icy cold by the San Marco with the King leaning over her.

**Took a minute to get this one done. The walls are closing in on the Bandit Princess. The army of the starving is out of action, and she's running out of options.**

**And Fionna is definitely weirding the Warrior Princess out with the whole baby thing.**


	35. Chapter 35

Chapter 35:

Billy the Human woke from a pleasant night's sleep to the insistent chiming of Abeiuwa's phone. He'd had a wonderful night with the kids, playing with them, reading to them, and making cookies. It was a side of him that Abeiuwa had always found fascinating, though Olesia had seen those things in him from the first she'd met him. He'd gone to bed with the pair, snuggled up, and drifted off with happy memories. Rags was due back soon, having gotten things a little better organized back home. Noemi was a little further out from returning, but Billy was now keeping their little girl–with Olesia's help. The princesses were even behaving. Unfortunately, the insistent ringing of Abeiuwa's phone suggested that the problem of the week had just arrived to smash his hard-won peace.

A groggy Jungle Princess climbed out of bed, wearing only her birthday suit. She stood there a moment, yawning and scratching before slowly wobbling across the room to the table where the phone-chargers sat. "Go," she yawned. Billy, laying on his side, found himself watching, listening, and, most importantly, _hoping_ that it was nothing. Unfortunately, it was a vain hope. He watched as his wife went from the sleepy/groggy of someone who'd gone down hard and slept like a baby to the wide-eyed of someone who'd just gotten horrendous news.

Meanwhile, in the fortified hostel that the King of Ooo was currently occupying, Orzsebet the Agent Princess stood before the man who'd pulled her from a watery grave taking her lumps and praying that matters got no worse. The big man was angry, and he tended to do very unpleasant things when he was in that frame of mind. "You disobeyed me," the King rumbled. The spymaster trembled, her body betraying her terror. "I-I thought to...," she started to say. "Don't lie to me," Finn growled. "I told you. The Lady of Spies is my creature. You disobeyed me. You threw away valuable resources of mine. What do you have to say for yourself?" "I failed you," she murmured. "I'm... a failure." It came out almost as a sob. Nodding, the big man growled, "this will not happen again, My Lady. Do you understand?" "I swear it," she replied. "Now," he said, as he stepped back. "Tell me what you saw. What did you learn?"

The spy went down through the story again–telling of how they'd pulled numbers from the phone he'd given her and used their influence to obtain the names behind those phone numbers. They'd happened upon a name that was known to them. Jorge Leone had a history as a small-time gangster with big ambitions. He was just the sort of man who'd throw in with the Bandit Princess to take a risky chance at advancing himself. It wasn't hard to lean on him and get a name out of his mouth. That name was Jaime Carreira. Jaime was a former union man at the closed sawmills. He had long been rumored to use the sawmill as a place to store mob-property that was passing through the area–for a hefty fee of course.

"Jorge was a front," rumbled Finn. "He was paid by a man named Todd Hansen to lead you to the sawmill..." Frowning, Orzsebet's companion growled, "how do you know this?" Finn ignored him. Turning to his spymaster, the big man said, "I want Mr. Hansen collected. Bring him to me. We're going to ask some questions..." "As you wish," said the Lady of Spies. She turned and signaled her fellows, who joined her as she walked back across the room and out the door. "I don't understand," growled her lieutenant. "That information is valuable. This Hansen could be an asset. We could learn much from him. We should be selling him the information..." The Agent Princess shut her subordinate up with a curt wave of her hand. "Only a fool crosses that man, Allen," Orzsebet rumbled, "and I won't be protecting you from his wrath."

As the spies went out to serve notice on a would-be tyrant, Billy the Human found himself standing in the shoes of the King of the World and wishing that he could swap places with his dad. He would rather be doing anything other than dealing with yet another world-smashing crisis. The princesses were, as usual, fighting over nothing. Half of them saw no problems at all. It was the ugly calculus of power. If Jungle Kingdom exploded, what was that to them? Jungle Kingdom was on the other side of the souther sea.

It helped not at all that Abieuwa–either because she didn't understand the problem entirely herself or because she was hiding the depth of it–was doing her best to obfuscate the situation while demanding help from the Privy Council. And Billy? He was stuck there in the middle and close to wilting under the pressure. Down in the pack of princess-problems, the Dowager-Princess, Odessa, stood frowning at him. His first test, and he was looking like he would crack. It was a bad sign, and she found herself resolving to test him. Interrupting the barrage of questions, the tall, lean woman demanded, "will Your Highness do _nothing_? My people are under threat if this mystery explosion envelops the south!"

Surprisingly, that idiotic demand brought a moment's clarity to the proceedings and shut down the shouting for a precious few seconds, buying breathing space for the big man. Steepling his hands in front of him, the Ice Prince rumbled, "we need facts, Your Highness. Facts are thin on the ground at the moment. Right now we don't even know if there _is_ a threat, much less how big a threat there could be. I will lead a delegation to the Jungle Kingdom with our finest scientific minds to assess the problem. In my absence, my sister, Star, will take over leadership of the council until my father's return..." When Crab Princess began to shout for Finn to come back and take over, Billy shut her down with, "the threat in the east is dire. We have reasons to believe that Bandit Princess is attempting to acquire dangerous weapons. She's already made attempts to procure the Zombie Virus. I'm afraid my father's focus must remain on her defeat. That will be all, Your Highness."

Rising, the big man beckoned his wife, saying, "we have much to discuss Princess Abieuwa." The tall woman flinched. That sounded ominous. With a nod to Bonnie, Billy said, "I need your advice, Princess Bonnibel." Turning to Lollipop, the big man said, "please have Princess Blargetha, Princess Nadia, and Lady Sarah brought to the Privy Chamber." Billy blew out of there, leaving the princesses no opening to say a word, and again Odessa found herself wishing she was younger. This was a prince worthy of a princess, and Nieve was fucking things up.

Billy went straight to the private meeting chamber behind the throne. Settling himself in the seat at the head of the table, the big man looked his wife square in the eye and said, "you're going to come clean about this. There's too many lives at stake." Abiuewa opened her mouth and shut it again as she realized that Billy wasn't going to be swayed by her usual tactics. "How much fuel is in the bunker, Abieuwa," asked Bonnie? The Jungle Princess balked. That was a closely held secret. It was her people's great legacy! "How much," Billy growled? "I demand to know. You will tell the Crown of Ooo just how much nuclear material is there."

"We... we've been... we don't know," Abieuwa admitted. They had been refining fuel, off and on, for centuries. It was the last imperative of a people that were seemingly forgotten. Mine fuel and refine it. Stash it in the bunker. It had almost become a holy quest for the people of the Southern Jungle. Billy grimaced. This was going somewhere very dangerous. He knew, from his admittedly limited education, that nuclear fuel could 'cook off' all on its own if there was enough of it in one place. That was, in essence, the basics of making a bomb. Trouble was there was so much that was _unknown_ in all of this.

As the big man pondered that, Sarah came in, leading Blargetha. Moments later, Nadia came in as well. "Sarah," Bonnie greeted her double. "I need computation mode. Will you give it to me?" It was a far cry from the imperious behavior of the past where Bonnie ordered the android-girl around like a dog, and Billy found himself both pleased by that and a little disturbed. There were rumors and rumblings about just what kind of relationship the two had.

"Sure," Sarah replied. "What's going on?" "Abieuwa's bunker may be going critical," Bonnie replied. Nadia's mouth gaped open in horror. Sarah though, was already going into the hard-logic mode that locked out her emotions. Pacing back and forth, the bubblegum princess announced, "calculate... Assume an average content of U235 per ton of raw ore. Assume... ten to twenty days of processing a year... Assume roughly one-thousand years of processing..." Sarah's eyes flicked back and forth in a blank/glazed look that Billy found disconcerting as Bonnie fired assumptions and numbers at her in a bewildering stream of numerical gibberish. Finally, the pink-haired princess rattled to the end. "Finish calculation," she announced.

Sarah stood there a moment, running down through the math, her eyelids fluttering and nose twitching in a worrisome display that made Billy think of the overheating issue when Bonnie's malware overclocked her processors. "Could have used that," Blargetha rumbled. Nadia jabbed her in the side with her elbow, eliciting an 'oof'. Sarah was her friend, not a fucking pocket-calculator! "Four-thousand, seven-hundred, ninety-six tons of high-enriched uranium fuel," Sarah burbled. "Phew!" Blargetha spat out the tea she'd been drinking, and Nadia's jaw came open again. "We have a problem," Billy muttered. He didn't even want to _think_ about the size of boom that would make!

"Ok," said Billy. "Pack your stuff. All of you. We're taking a flight to Jungle Kingdom. Bring whatever science-biz you can lay hands on. We're going to assess the bunker." It was firm and decisive. Lollipop? Need you to go grab Star and let her know I'm going. Also need you to send a message to Fi. I may need her..." Lollipop rushed out of the room, almost smacking Odessa in the head with the door. She paused a minute, wondering why the old bat was there. Then, knowing how important it was to keep a Mertens on the throne in full sight of the sundry bothersome hang-arounds, the skinny sugar-snack got on her way.

With the decision made, it was all hands on deck. Taking custody of Billy's kids, Olesia took the quartet to the nursery and handed them over to Drew and Breakfast, while Billy personally went down to the science-academy with Sarah and started basically cleaning the place out, sending truckloads of gear to the Candy Kingdoms' airport under guard. Bonnie, Blargetha, and Nadia closeted themselves together down in Bonnie's lab with a recalcitrant Jungle Princess and began the tedious task of dragging information out of her on just what was in the mysterious bunker in the jungle.

Bonnie and Nadia had both _seen_ the thing. It was a half mile on a side, and heavily overbuilt of concrete so thick and tough that centuries of rain, wind, sun, and the occasional earthquake, had done little to harm it. Trouble was, that was all any of them knew. They'd seen the surface, and Nadia had once seen the ancient machinery that refined raw uranium ore from a distant mountain, turning it into deadly enriched material suitable for powering machinery–or building a bomb. Big as it was, the bunker hardly looked like something that contain thousands of tons of uranium–certainly not in a form that was safe.

"It's... a cube," Abieuwa admitted. They'd been going around and around for the better part of an hour, and it was clear that the Lady of the Southern Jungles was getting very nervous. They were getting closer and closer to things she didn't want to tell them. At the same time, the prideful princess was dealing with tremendous risk. Her people could be obliterated by the very treasure they'd so jealously guarded. "It's a cube," she muttered. She'd seen ancient documents showing just how big the treasury was. It was a cube, a half-mile on a side. "That thing goes a half mile into the earth," howled Nadia?! Flushing, Abieuwa nodded.

"Never mind that," Blargetha interrupted. "That's enough fucking mushroom bombs to beggar the bomb that smashed Ooo! You're fucking insane!" The plump princess began pulling at her _hair_, and Bonnie could easily understand why. The thought of that much 'boom' made her giddy. She almost wished she'd left Sarah here and gone down to the Science Academy herself.

"What are the safeguards," she murmured. It came out far calmer than her seething heart was managing just now. With a sigh, Abieuwa admitted, "there was an ancient plan... that laid out just how the chambers were to be stored. The machines store them for us. The machines our ancestors left take care of much of the business inside. Only a handful of my people have ever gone within and none in the last hundred years." Oreva's family had been leaders among the men who tended the bunker.

"Wait a minute," growled Nadia. "You've been buying lead storage vessels from my people for the last twenty years. What the hell were you using before that?" The Jungle Princess glanced away, her expression telling the tale. They'd been cobbling together whatever they could to store highly-enriched uranium. There was no telling what was down in the bunker or what the quality was. This was every flavor of not-good. Bonnie halfway wanted to call Finn herself and tell him to get his ass back here! She didn't want to deal with this! She wanted to make this somebody else's problem!

Taking calming breaths, the tall princess pressed the buzzer, summoning her butler. "Peps," she said, "get Simone and Betty. Hell, get Maja if you can pull her out of whatever she's doing down in that lab..." Much as she had no use for 'magic', right now they needed a miracle. "Better call Cherry," said Nadia, "and tell her to stop executing those tomb-raiders and antiquities fences. We might need ancient-tech to get out of this mess." "Right," said Bonnie. "All of you... pack your shit. The court's moving to Abieuwa's place for the duration. Either we fix this mess, or..." The or didn't really need saying. Everyone moved.

As the sun was setting, a cavalcade of vehicles converged on the Candy Kingdom's airfield. Billy was already there with Sarah, watching as the last few necessities got loaded. Olesia was at his side, and Abieuwa, who'd been putting up with the young wench, might have cussed her. She might have, if Billy wasn't instructing her on what to do to take care of his kids–_their_ kids. The princess found herself feeling about two-inches tall as the younger woman promised to make daily vids of their children.

"I'm afraid you won't be around to do that," Bonnie announced, as she passed the pair. "I might need an elemental, and Phoebe can't come. You're now a critical person for the crisis. Hand the kids off to Drew and Breakfast, get your shit packed, and get back here." "I just need some clean sand," Olesia murmured. "Get on the plane," Bonnie commanded. Hitching up her skirts, the plump girl scooted her ass up the ramp as if she'd been standing next to a freezer. "We ready," asked Bonnie? Billy, who'd been a little startled to have this woman just start bossing Olesia around like that goggled at her. "Yeah," said Sarah. "Plane's loaded. Everything I could beg or borrow."

Simone and Cherry came striding up to the plane then. "Where's Betty," Bonnie asked? "She's going to Lizard Kingdom," Cherry replied. "Lizard Princess has a library full of antiquities. There might be things there that could help us." Nodding, Bonnie said, "get on board. We'll talk in flight. Conference ten minutes after we're airborne." Without a further word, Bonnie herself shouldered her bag and started climbing the ramp.

As the airship carrying his people began rolling down the runway to build speed for takeoff, the King of Ooo was busy interviewing an unlikely guest. Orzsebet and her team had searched across most of the day for Todd Hansen. The green-skinned giant shouldn't have been hard to find here on the edge of Engagement Ring Kingdom. He stood head and shoulders above nearly everybody in the town. When you threw his skin-tone on top of things, he stood out all the more–a green-skinned, blonde-haired giant in a nation full of blue-skinned pee-wees. And yet he'd been rather scarce.

That scarcity told volumes about just how _involved_ he was in the Bandit Princess's business. Finn was almost _eager_ to question him. Time was wasting, and every moment took Breezy further and further away from him. He was feeling a lot of angst for not having taken care of her when she'd done so much to take care of him over the years of his life, and more than that, he had come to a deep and abiding love for her. He feared that he'd never see her again in this life, and he'd already resolved that anybody responsible for harming her was going to die as ugly a death as he could manage.

Todd Hansen's eyes told that he knew exactly who he was dealing with. He wasn't at all surprised when Finn came through the door to the basement space where he was being held. His hard eyes followed the other man as he came striding across the dimly lit, low-ceilinged chamber under the hostel's common room.

Finn could hear the thumping beat from the party going on in the commons. The spies liked there to be a continuous party in their hotel. The noise from the crowd, the din of shouted conversation, and the pounding music drowned out anything that might be going on in the basement. There was no reason at all to play with this man, and the King of Ooo resolved to get right to the point.

Stopping before the bandit-chief, Finn asked, "tell me, Mr. Hansen, do you know what it feels like to have every bone in your body slowly crushed?" The giant gangster stared at him, his expression a strange mixture of puzzlement and fear. Indeed, the spies were also staring. That wasn't really part of the script. Reaching out with that monstrous mechanical arm, the big man took the gangster's big right hand, as if he were going to shake hands. At first it wasn't clear that anything was happening. Then as the pressure increased, Todd Hansen's expression quickly changed from puzzlement to fear to horror. And then the bandit was on his knees, screaming. When he tried to fight back, the King cruelly backhanded him, breaking his nose in the process. Todd Hansen's face turned deep red, and he screamed and screamed as his hand was crushed into a bloody pulp.

The spies were now staring at their nominal master in shock. At Finn's nod, the two brutes on either side jerked the weeping gangster back to his feet, where he stood wobbling in shock and pain. Wiping his bloody hand all over the big man's terrified face, Finn rumbled, "you were trusted with a cargo. A cargo came through. Where did it go?" His voice was utterly and terrifyingly calm. Trying to man up, the big man clamped his mouth shut. Finn reached out and grabbed his forearm. The gangster began to fight again, but, down an arm, he didn't have much of a chance. Finn kicked him in his right knee, splintering his knee cap and dropping him on the ground, where he lay screaming pitiably. "I'll do your chest and head last," the King rumbled, as he slowly crushed the gangster's right forearm, reducing it to mush.

The gangster moaned pitiably, but the King merely moved on to his right foot. When he felt that awful pressure on his right foot, the gangster began to sing. The broken man began to tell everything he knew of the mystery cargo that had passed through his pub. He hadn't seen it, but he knew it was a person. The gangs always used the same coded phrase when they were hauling a kidnap victim versus a slave. The victim was in a box. The box had come in on a wagon and been carried out of there again under heavy guard, headed east towards the bandit kingdoms.

"Destination," Finn asked? The terrified gangster admitted that he didn't know, but he'd heard a name mentioned. As the spies scrawled down the last of Mr. Hansen's words, the big man pondered what they had to do now. The bandit kingdoms were the favorite place for shipping illegal cargoes. There were no inspectors looking at cargo there. Ships came from all across the world with cargoes that evil men trafficked, and they left with slaves and drugs to take back to their foreign masters. He didn't have a lot of time before Breezy was taken beyond his reach.

"There's a man on Fifth street," said Finn. "His name is Bollinger... Take Mr. Hansen to him. There're other people who want to talk to him about matters that don't concern me..." The spies snatched up the broken gangster, hauling his battered body out of the room immediately. They were going to take him to be further tortured by the gangsters for the crimes he'd committed against _their_ laws. Likely, he'd be in a river or unmarked grave in the wilderness after that. Allen Lloyd turned his pale face away from the sight of the big man wiping that ugly mechanical hand clean of blood. Orzsebet was right. This was not a man you crossed.

The King of Ooo turned to his spymaster and said, "attend me, Princess Orzsebet." As he turned to go, the Lady of Spies fell in at his side. Silence reigned, as the pair headed back upstairs to the hotel's best suite. Arriving upstairs, the King led the way into his quarters, his bodyguard shutting the door behind them. Stopping in the center of the room, the big man turned to his spymaster. "We'll track the name," she said. "We can get leads from his phone and the papers from his office." Nodding, Finn agreed, "that will be fine. I'm pleased, Orzsebet..." She bowed to him. When she straightened, the big man took her chin in his hand–the very hand he'd used to brutally sanction the gangster. "Master," Orzsebet murmured, a quaver announcing her terror.

Reaching down, the King eased the waistline of her skirt down, showing the strange tattoo there. He'd seen it the night she'd drowned. Her sodden clothing had very nearly been torn off by the rush of water in the millrace and river, and he'd spotted the tattoo while he was saving her life. Finn's Toy. Her face flushed. "Who hit you," he asked? The trembling came back. Cupping her chin with his left hand in almost tender fashion, the big man rumbled, "tell me who did that..." "The Committee," she blurted. "Why," he asked? Flushing, she admitted, "punishment. The Committee had me beaten... and... they did that." They'd dared not do anything worse to her, though having her raped had come up in the vote twice. In the end, the very real risk of Finn's catastrophic reaction to that had squelched most of the uglier sanctions. Nobody particularly wanted to have their head pulled off their body or to be turned into a living candle or something equally as wicked.

Brushing her face with the back of his hand, the big man told her, "the Lady of Spies belongs to me. No-one has the right to put hand to her without my permission." Shocking him, the slim woman pressed her face against his hand as if it was a soft and luxurious pillow. "Master," she murmured, her voice sounding plaintive. That told him something of just how bad things had been, and he found himself thinking of the months where he hadn't heard from her. Stirrings of rage filled him. Calming the anger in his heart, the big man told her, "we will address this later." His mind went to his wife. Drew had wanted to give her a good looking over. "I want you to stand down for a while," the big man said. "Your aide seems competent..." "Master," she pleaded. "D-don't send me away..." She was afraid. He could see the fear in her eyes. She feared the optics of being sent away.

The skinny woman pressed herself against him, and he knew immediately what she was doing. She was offering herself to him–giving him her body. "Nothing's going to happen to you, Orzsebet," he murmured. "Let me stay," she pleaded. A part of him wondered if this was calculation. Everything had layers with Orzsebet. Nothing was ever quite what it seemed with the Agent Princess. Another part of him... was _tempted_. He found himself tempted as he had been with Hurletta and Aerwin. He was tempted to take advantage of her. At the same time, this wasn't a victim of a violation, and it wasn't a vulnerable young woman who's mother had been kidnaped out of their home.

The big man shoved his hand between her skinny thighs and cupped her snatch through the silky drawers she was wearing. The slim woman's breath came out in a rush. At the same time, her narrow hips subtly began to bump and grind against his hand. He was a little surprised to find that she was already very wet. He found himself tempted again, as his mind skewed the equation towards calculation. She _was_ afraid, but not so afraid that she was going into this with no thought of the possible outcomes. Eyes closed, the slutty spy-girl let out a soft, but unmistakable sigh. The King of Ooo stared deep into those dark brown eyes and rumbled, "entertain me. Dance."

Stepping back, the big man stood there, staring at her. Swallowing, Orzsebet began to dance. It was jerky at first, but slowly she began to get better, becoming more natural. She was very thin, like Lollipop, with the barest of bumps for breasts and narrow hips. She did have a cute, bubble butt, and lean, shapely legs, accentuated by the high-heels she habitually wore. "Show me," the big man whispered. Licking her lips, the slutty spy-girl began to slowly strip, popping the buttons on her blouse one by one as she danced there in his quarters. Underneath, she wore a bra in shimmery silver silk.

As the blouse came loose, she flung it into the corner. Her belly was flat as a board–amazing for a woman as old as he was. Hips bumping and grinding, the Lady of Spies put on a show best she could consider she had no rhythm at all. It was nothing like Aysun or Alexia. Orzsebet was the one princess who apparently didn't know how to dance. Unzipping her skirt, she let it lid down a little, trying to tease he imagined. She was awful at this, but the fact that she was so clearly doing this under duress was a very dirty turn-on.

They had a history. He had crossed blades with the Agent Princess on numerous occasions. He'd saved her from being butchered once when she got in way over her head. On the flip side of that coin, he'd slapped the shit out of her on one of her more excessive moments where she'd nearly killed a lot of people who didn't need it to punish a mark. And there was the casino. She'd vowed to make him suffer after he thwarted her plans to smash the casino that cheated her. They had a lot of history together, didn't they?

Popping the catch on her bra, the slutty princess tried to tease him, holding the bra up over her little knobs, as she flashed them at him. He would have been pressed to explain why he wanted to fuck her. She was skinny as a rail and cunty in demeanor. _But you can do what you want to her,_ he thought. It was an ugly thought. He could do what he wanted, and she wouldn't resist. She was afraid of him and dependent on his good will. Her own people despised her and had considered butchering her. After the interview with the gangster, an ugly piece of him was in charge right now.

She was down to just her panties now, and he found himself eying that twisted tattoo. It was low on her belly–really just above her crotch on the left side. As her twisting, gyrating hips brought her around to face him again, he took a good look at it. 'Finn's Toy'. Grabbing the skinny slut by her arm, the big man dragged her into his bedroom. Dragging her over to the bed, the big man shoved her down on her belly, the big man slapped her hard little ass, causing her to squeal. At the same time, that hard little ass began to wriggle around in heat. Finn spanked that hard little ass a long five minutes, making her squeal and wail. He could tell she was getting hotter and hotter. Hitches in her breathing announced that she was getting off, and that little ass was still wriggling around when he quit spanking her.

Slipping his fingers into the waist of her panties, the big man jerked them off her ass and down her sleek thighs. Thinking of the tattoo just above her snatch, Finn cupped her slimy fuck-hole with his big left mitt and shoved two fingers inside, whispering, "so this is Finn's toy, huh?" Whimpering in heat, Orzsebet nodded. Roughly, the big man jammed his fingers in and out of her snatch, like he was juicing a piece of soft, wet fruit, while the slutty princess screamed into the matress. Her hips were wriggling and jumping, and she had both hands wrapped up in the sheets. His hand was sticky when he quit.

Grabbing a handful of her hair, the big man pulled her up against him, reaching around to cup one of her dainty little knockers. Roughly, Finn squeezed her hard little titty, making her gasp. Orzsebet's ass rubbed against his crotch. "I'm going to _fuck_ you," Finn growled. Grabbing her hand, he pressed it against his pecker. Immediately, she began rubbing his dong with her tiny little hand. "Yes," she moaned. "Please..."

**As Finn dances along the line between right and wrong, Billy heads south to answer the deadly question: What's in the box? Hopefully the Finn Crew can get the Jungle Kingdom's bunker straightened out before... really bad things happen.**


	36. Chapter 36

Chapter 36:

Orzsebet the Agent Princess awoke with a start to the sound of keys clacking on a computer. It all came rushing back. The King... brutally torturing a gangster–_wringing_ information out of him–before handing him over to his brethren, likely to be murdered. He'd _taken_ her last night. He'd used her for two hours, maybe more. She'd blacked out somewhere in the middle of it. A glance down at her naked body showed that she hadn't dreamed that. "Good morning, Your Highness," Finn remarked. He never stopped what he was doing. He might have been talking to the wall.

"Give me the names of the men who suggested rape," Finn rumbled. Pulling the covers up, she stared at him, all her terror coming back as her mind conjured uglier ways last night could have ended. He could easily have _crushed_ her or snapped her neck instead of toying with her. He glanced at her, and his expression suggested that she'd better give him the names. The spymaster shivered in memory of the awful fate meted out to the three men on zombie island. "Gordon Wells," she murmured, "and Damien Vega." "You can go," he told her. "We'll be leaving in an hour to head to the Bandit Kingdoms." She got up, snatched her panties off the floor, and hustled out of there. She'd been friends with Damien until they'd both landed on the Committee. Gordon had been her mentor and the first man to fuck her. Both had come to see her as a danger to them when she was elected to the Committee. Now she'd be nominating two replacements. One thing was certain, she would _never_ be fool enough to cross this man.

An hour later, the Lady of Spies strode into the King's private car, dressed in a black suit, much like Finn had worn on special occasions in his all-but-forgotten former life. It was a jarring look for her, making her look like a boy. Skinny as she was, and with that short haircut, she might have been taken for a boy if not for the weird hitch to her walk. Orzsebet was walking funny. She _knew_ she was walking funny. Truth be told, she honestly thought she might well be walking bow-legged. It had been a rough night, and she wasn't exactly _young_ anymore.

More to the point, she was here alone. The others weren't allowed inside this space because Finn trusted neither her nor her organization. He was right, of course. Her mind kept wanting to conjure ways to slip listening devices into this chamber. At the same time... Finn was the surety that she wouldn't be put to death. Tongues had been wagging about that this very morning when she emerged from his quarters.

"Master," she greeted him. "We looked through Mr. Hansen's phone before handing it to your... associates. There's a suspicious number registered through InterFone near the place the wagon was going." Finn nodded. That's where they would be going. "How far from the tracks," he asked? "We'll have to ride a bit," Orzsebet replied. Finn nodded absently and asked, "horses or motor vehicles?" "The roads are rough, Your Majesty," Orzsebet replied. It wouldn't be his car. Fortunately, his bodyguard knew how to ride. "I'm satisfied," he said. "You can go." As the thin woman turned away, the big man told her, "lose the suit. It's ugly. I don't like it." The Agent Princess shivered. Nonetheless, with a nod, she went walking back down the aisle to the door.

The King was closeted in his private car all through the day, while the spies kept to themselves in a car on the far end of the train. Orzsebet mostly acted as go-between, and the repeated walks up and down through the train eased some of the soreness out of her muscles such that she was mostly walking normally as the sun began to set. As the day ended, the Lady of Spies found herself standing in front of the King's table, watching as his food-taster sampled the big man's dinner.

"Have a seat, Your Highness," the big man rumbled. "We should talk..." The skinny spy-girl stood there a moment, thinking about that. _In for a penny,_ she thought, as she drew the chair before him. Moments later, the bodyguard came over and ladled out soup and salad for her. As she sampled the soup, the King rumbled, "the world is changing, Orzsebet." The spy grunted. The world had already changed. She was still suffering the aches and pains from all the change. "I had to change to meet the world," Finn insisted. Looking up into his pretty blue eyes, the spy found herself considering what he was trying to say. His expression was neutral but ernest, and she wondered. What did he mean? What did that mean for her?

"We have to pull together," Finn murmured. "We can't continue to be at each other's throats..." It took a moment. He was expounding on his new kingdom–a kingdom that encompassed all the kingdoms that were. It would have sounded arrogant coming from any other man. Finn wasn't the kind of man who wanted power. He could have had it in spades any time he'd desired it. Orzsebet had laughed at him for being a fool who turned away from his own greed.

"You ask for things I can't give you," she blurted. The King paused. "The old ways of doing things... of loyalty to a king and his desires... All of that died in the fires," Orzsebet insisted. "My kind... we're... loyal to ourselves." Resting his elbows on the table, the King said, "do you doubt my resolve, my Lady?" In bleak tones, Orzsebet murmured, "no." She'd seen his resolve in the basement last night. She'd _felt_ his resolve firsthand in the Fire-Bleeder's tomb. Finn–_New Finn_ as his wives called him–would smash her and anyone else he saw as a threat, and he now had more of power than she'd ever dreamed of in her life.

Reaching out, the big man took her chin in his hand–his left this time–and whispered, "I want to move past the ugliness of our past, Orzsebet. Meet me halfway. Let us come to an..." He frowned, his face twisting into a puzzled frown, and that's when she remembered. He didn't have the word. He was a simple man, thrust into something he had never wanted and damaged by some of the things he'd experienced. "Accommodation," she murmured. "The word you want is accommodation." Nodding, he admitted, "I have many flaws and failings like that... My people help me with things like that..." It was a bit of a shock to have a man with this kind of power make such an admission. "You can help me," he said. "You can be one of my hands... We can make the world better for all..." He didn't focus on the alternative. She already knew it.

"I have... factions that I have to deal with," she said. "I have ugly friends," Finn retorted. The threat was clear. Those factions might well get removed. She thought of the two walking dead–Gordon and Damien. They were dead, and they didn't even know it. She wondered when it would happen. How would it happen? He planned to simply have them murdered. Worse thought: he could just get rid of _her_ too. She could spend her life watching her back, or...

"Information is expensive, Your Majesty," she said. "Royal Protection is worth something," Finn replied. They were down to the bargaining. Taking a breath, she said, "there are things outside the King's concern..." "You want to sell your services to others...," he said with a frown. She reminded him, "you sanction the Lady of the Underworld to dabble in certain... transactions..." "She has my back," Finn retorted. Leaning forward, Orzsebet said, "then perhaps I would back the King... Perhaps I would look after his other interests... Her network isn't as big as mine, and there's less... baggage."

It was as strange as any of the conversations he'd ever had with this woman. He'd spent a good chunk of his life variously rescuing her from her own folly or wanting to wring her neck. At the same time, he wanted to wean himself away from relying on Cherry's network of thieves and con-artists. He wanted to return to the days when the gangsters preyed on each other and left the normies alone. At the same time, he knew very little of what Orzsebet and her peeps actually did when they weren't selling their _service_ to princesses. "No man or woman who punches a clock each day can be directly touched," he said. Orzsebet blinked. And then, there was a _lot_ of room to maneuver in that edict. "All matters relevant to the world of Royals belong to the King," she replied. "Agreed," Finn said.

The train rolled on into the evening, finally rolling to a stop in the icy darkness on a siding in the wilderness. Men were waiting there with horses. Finn gathered on weapons and equipment and joined the Agent Princess on the platform at the back of his private car. The big man wasted little time on ceremony, climbing off the platform and straight onto a horse. When his companions were mounted up, the King drove his heels into his horse's flanks and galloped off.

The sun was rising when the little party crested a rise above the town of Ventimiglia, hard by the banks of the Roya river. The shadowport was bustling, with a dozen ships swinging at anchor, waiting on the morning tide. Glancing to his right, Finn stared out at the sea, a few miles down the river. His stomach churned on worry. Breezy could be on any of those ships. They could be planning to haul his beloved friend away this very morning. "Princess Orzsebet," the big man growled. The Lady of Spies rode up on his left. "Find our quarry," he rumbled. "I'm going to buy time..." With bodyguard in tow, the King of Ooo rode off down the river. One of the spies remarked, "how's he going to stop ships from leaving?" Orzsebet muttered, "we have our part to play. Let's get at it."

Finn the King set a ferocious pace as if he'd been born in the saddle. Thundering through the woods, churning snow and dodging low branches, the big man was in his element–a man of action instead of a jumped-up thug on a throne. His bodyguards did their best to keep up because the big man showed no interest or inclination in stopping just now. They were close. They were close to the King's quarry, and everyone could feel it.

As they rode through the woods, the land began to rise, giving way to a deep, steep-sided river gorge that sheltered the river from storms off the sea. Finn made straight for the highest point, riding up and up and up until he finally emerged from the naked, skeletal trees a hundred feet up from the water. Alighting there, the big man spent several minutes pacing back and forth, and that was where his ernest protectors found him. What he looked at or looked for, neither of his bodyguards could say.

Finally, the King of Ooo seemed to come to a decision. "Take the horses," he said. "Take them down the hill about a couple-hundred yards." "Yes, sire," said the food-taster. Gathering up the reins, the banana-guard turned and headed off, leaving the King alone with his bodyguard. The King was staring at his hand, as if working himself up for something. "Rope," he rumbled. The bodyguard rushed back down the hill, returning a few minute later at a dead run. He found his master standing atop the pinnacle of the cliff, examining the crumbling stone there.

Without a word, the bodyguard fashioned a makeshift harness out of the rope, tieing it off on a stout tree. Arguing would do him no good. The King was set on this. More to the point, the King of Ooo was likely the only man in creation who could carry off this one-man blockade that he was aiming at. Returning to his master, the soldier handed off the harness and watched as the big man climbed into it, cinching it up tight. And then Finn jumped over the side. The bodyguard immediately rushed to the cliffside. There he found his master chiseling away at seams and faults in the stone with main-force.

Hundreds of miles to the north, Star Mertens strode into the Council Chambers wearing a sexy, slinky hip-hugging dress in shimmery green cloth with Ragnhild and Noemi at her back. It was the same format as her father and brother–a member of the Mertens family on the throne with his or her coterie of Royal Advisors. There was neither sight nor scent of Nieve, and Odessa was fit to be tied. It was bad enough that the little bitch dodged her husband as if he came with a bad smell, making the hoped-for Royal Heir something of a longshot. Now she was ducking a prime opportunity to shine.

Settling herself on her father's throne, Star crossed her legs artfully, "you may start the meeting, mother." It was the polite and formal that the family had adopted. Lollipop stepped forward and called the meeting to order. "This meeting will be short," Star announced. "Rumor control. My brother is on the ground in Jungle Kingdom. The Minister for Science and the First Minister are investigating the disturbance in the bunker..."

It was much like the run of such meetings that Billy had conducted. The Ice Prince behaved as if he was only a steward–warming the seat while his father was away. A part of Odessa was a little disappointed that a fellow woman would do the same. You expected a little more out of a woman than a man. And, of course, she had other heirs she could have offered up to be the nymph-girl's husband–pliable men who would have done her bidding and worked to steer the little woman from behind the throne. Still, Billy was the heir apparent, and the old woman found herself cursing Nieve. Where was that silly bitch?

Crab Princess started the kvetching. "Where's Finn," she demanded? "The King's in the east," said Star. "He's dealing with the ongoing rebellion." "W-why can't he get back here," Djanira the Desert Princess demanded? The business went south fast, with the various princesses deciding that, since Star was somewhere near third or fourth in line for the throne, they could just bully her. It was every kind of ugly, and Star was a little shocked at just how cunty these women were. As she tried again and again to get the meeting back under control, the nasty bitches kept escalating things–making demands that she had no power to meet even if they weren't complete lunacy.

Half of them wanted the army brought back from the Wall because, in their mind, the threat was disrupted. They wanted to send the army to Jungle Kingdom to storm the bunker and remove all the dangerous material. It was madness on its face when they didn't even know what was _in_ the bunker. The other half of them wanted Star to conjure some kind of miracle. In their mind, she should command the Ice Queen to deploy all the wizards in Wizard City to simply 'zap' the bunker away or something. Things got truly terrifying when the ambassador from the Elbow Kingdom suggested going to the Maze to acquire a wish from the Wishmaster. The only thing uniting them was their continued and strident demands that Finn drop whatever he was doing to rush back home to deal with the problems in Jungle Kingdom's bunker–as if the business with the Bandit Princess could just be ignored.

"My father would be the first to tell you that he's no brainiac," Star interrupted. "He would simply hand the problem to his most learned people. That's already been done by my brother. The Minister for Science is involved, and I've reached out to the Truth Kingdom to see if they can..." "We should force the Grid-Face People to build a Tesla Barrier around the bunker," howled the Desert Princess! Pounding her fist into the arm of the throne, Star snarled, "the next one to speak will see thirty days, dungeon!" Crab Princess opened her mouth, but Star shut it for her, growling, "interrupt me again, Crab Princess! Interrupt me and see what comes next!"

Back in the east, Finn dusted himself clean of dirt and rock-dust. The mechanical arm was a little the worse for the wear, but the river was blocked to ships entering or leaving. Anybody trying would see the bottom torn out of their boat. They might even be stuck here for _weeks_ if they couldn't muster the resources to remove the rubble from the riverbed. Finn himself was exhausted. He'd had to use the curse a few times to dodge falling boulders. It was time to catch up to Orzsebet and see what she'd found out.

His strength slowly returned as he headed down the hill, and he was mostly walking normally by the time they reached the horses. Neither bodyguard said a word as their master climbed back into the saddle. They'd gotten through this without losing him. That was what counted. They weren't going to have to disappear. Both men were terrified of what would happen if they should ever return _without_ him.

Orzsebet was waiting for them in a seedy bar hard by the side of the river when the King rolled into town. Nervous faces watched the big man as he and his ernest bodyguards rode in. There were advantages to the train. Lots of rich fucks like Kim Kil Wan owned and used private train cars to get around. It was as simple as hitching a ride on a train going your way. The only thing the railroads cared about was that the safety equipment on your car was up to scratch and your money was good. Nobody needed to know who was in the car, and mostly nobody cared. Right now, Finn was aware that most people on Ooo knew his appearance even if they'd never really met him.

_They can't leave by boat,_ he thought, as he stepped down from his horse. The kidnapers would have to ride out of here, and their horses would be no faster than his. They had to get back to the roads in the north to make good time or have access to motor vehicles. These wild lands made a great place to do their dirt, but the bandits could only escape to sea when there was trouble. He had them trapped.

Striding into the bar, the King of Ooo scanned the scene, his eyes taking in the furtive stares. Yeah, they knew who he was. The fact that so many were _interested_ in his face suggested that maybe the goings-on in the town were widely known. They knew there was something of interest to the King of Ooo in this place, with some likely willing to sell him information on the subject if he asked it.

Boots thumping on the floor, the big man took the stroll across the room at a measured pace, letting everybody get a very good look. Arriving in the corner where his spymaster sat, the big man announced, "Orzsebet..." "Master," she replied. The man next to her glanced at her and then back at Finn. Finn hoped he _did_ report that to Orzsebet's _committee_. Let them believe that he was this wench's master. And let them be very afraid of him. He only needed to gesture, and the other spy hastened to get out of that chair in short order.

Slipping into the chair beside the Lady of Spies, the big man rumbled, "the channel's blocked. They can't leave." "I'd heard the... commotion," Orzsebet replied. "There's only one way back out of the town now," the second spy declared. "They'll likely be on the road tonight, bound for Bordighera." "The target's _here_," Orzsebet murmured. "My contacts with InterFone have told me that there's only three phones in the entire town, and one of them is the contact we got from Mr. Hansen." Finn's eyes asked the question. Where? Knowing the risk of spooking the target, Orzsebet merely replied with, "we'll be ready to move at sunset, Master. We'll have them then."

An hour after dinner, a worried Star Mertens strolled into the tiny lab Maja kept in the depths of Bonnie's dungeon. She'd been closeted there for weeks–basically since she'd come out of her coma and been cleared by Drew to be up and about. Nobody really knew what she was doing in the lab, though Drew often stopped by to look in on her. Star's father knew, but he wasn't here and likely wasn't interested in speaking on the subject if he was. Trouble was, Maja was one of the most powerful and ancient members of the family. She knew things that only Simone or Bonnie might know and much that they did not. Bonnie had been militating for every member of their extended clan to jump in to tackle the problem of the bunker, and that apparently included the Sky Witch.

The witch was working with a wand and weaving a stunningly complex spell when the wood-nymph wonder came into her space. Star stood there a moment staring at the construct with her wizard-eyes, and she found her breath catching. That was what got the witch's attention. When the little woman exhaled, Maja turned to face her, a frown on her eternally beautiful face. "Star," she greeted Finn's middle daughter, as she set the wand down. Shaking off her shock at what the older woman was building, Star announced, "you're wanted in Jungle Kingdom. Princess Bubblegum wanted me to send you there as soon as it could be arranged."

"Out of the question," Maja replied, as she turned back to her work. She was close. She was getting very close. The energy demands were no longer cataclysmic now. They were almost within the realm of the possible, and she didn't want to let up while she was making progress. She was looking forward to getting this thing done and getting back to her own business. Striding forward, Star announced, "it's not a negotiation. You're..." "I don't _work for you_, dearie," Maja growled, as she spun to face the younger woman. "I don't work for _anybody_, certainly not Bonnibel Bubblegum."

Star blinked in surprise, her mind starting to go down dangerous tracks. This wasn't the doddering madwoman they had taken in. This was the cunningly _evil_ woman who'd fought them for the fate of Ooo, and she was acting without any kind of restraint at all. More on point, she was a better magician than Star, and the younger woman knew it. The two women stood there a moment, staring at each other, Star feeling all the terror of the moment. She'd come down here unprepared for a fight. She'd just assumed...

Breaking the impasse, the Sky Witch brushed Star's cheek with the back of her hand, declaring, "you have a lot of your father in you–rushing around like a maniac when you should wait and be quiet." Nodding as she turned to the table, the evil witch rumbled, "you'll learn patience, just as he did." Star stared at the older woman in shock, but the hits kept coming. "You under-estimate your brother, Star," Maja said, as she took up the wand once more. "William will be fine. Just you keep those bitches out of his hair." Shaking her head, Star turned and walked out. It appeared she was dismissed.

As Star left the dungeons under the palace in a state of shock and terror, her father stood in the shadows outside a ramshackle warehouse staring into space, his mind roiled by anticipation of imminent violence. The mystery phone–and its owner–were in the warehouse. That meant a high likelihood that Breezy was in there. She might be injured or otherwise incapacitated. She was certainly shackled. If Finn wanted to rescue his old friend, this was his chance. He was feeling all the manic urge to action that he'd always felt, in spite of the nano-machines and their insistent dampening of the surging stress chemicals in his brain. At the same time, his deeper nature–the man inside the machine–was counseling caution. They were close. This was his best chance. He couldn't afford to blow it.

"Ten minutes, sire," announced the spy at his elbow. They were all much more respectful now. He'd somehow _proven_ himself to them. Maybe his actions–and the little conversation with Agent Princess–had opened some kind of door. They were working with him. That was key to making this work. He'd planned this out with them. Their quarry would likely get put on a wagon. Said wagon would have to come out through the broad double-doors in the fortified warehouse. That was their in. Kill the horses. They didn't need them. They had horses of their own to get out of here. Stall the wagon in the entry. Kill the men inside–except their mystery man.

A whisper came to Finn's ears. There was activity at the front door. The big man gathered himself, getting looser, his hands reaching for the famous sword that hung at his hip. In a world that had become well acquainted with firearms and other dangerous tools of death, he still did business in a rather _personal_ way, getting up close before cramming three feet of blade into his adversary's guts. Few ever survived the meeting.

The doors came open a crack, and it was clear the men inside were struggling to move them. The doors were heavily overbuilt in thick planks hewn from stout trees banded in iron. They moved. Slowly. The doors hung on tracks that were rough and rusty. Slowly, and then with more speed, the doors ground open as the men put their backs into the job. "Now," Finn announced, as the pack of people in the woods rushed the warehouse.

The bandits in the warehouse were taken by surprise as the black-clad strangers came rushing in out of the darkness. Miniature crossbows fired with the soft twang of well-greased bow-strings. It was silent weapons for this business, lest the neighbors overhear and decide to involve themselves. That was always a risk in a place like this. If you had something worth your being raided over, there could be more than one interested group willing to crash the party.

The men at the doors fell dead in a barrage of arrows. The spies rushed in through the gap with Finn hot on their heels. That didn't feel right to him. His adrenalin surging, he wanted to be first in the door–same as he'd always been. A harsh reality had taken over his life. He was father to dozens of young children, and he was King. He had to balance his hunger with those basic realities. Now he took a back seat, directing his spies as they rolled right over the Bandit Princess's thugs, slaughtering the surprised men where they stood.

In short order, they had the wagon, its contents, and the entry. Now, Finn stepped back to wait, as his agents went to work. There was a phone here, and that phone belonged to the mystery holding his friend. It was time to let others do the real work. Hanging back with his bodyguards, the big man waited and listened as the agents fanned out, cutting their way through the ranks of the bandits with savage aplomb. When they were out of sight and the main entry secure, he turned his attention to the box, sending the food-taster out to scare up tools to open it.

The big man occupied his time thinking of witty things he would say to Breezy. She'd rescued him a couple of times now. He could now say he'd rescued _her_. When the annoying banana had returned, the King got down to business, driving wedges carefully into the seams in the box and prying at the lid. The contraption was ominously constructed as if the occupant was never intended to see the light of day ever again, and that had him a little worried. As the wood finally began to give, a noxious scent escaped that sent a chill of terror through him. Now the King and his bodyguards began to work like men possessed, chiseling and prying at the box until they finally broke the lid open.

Grabbing a torch from one of the spies, the King shined the light inside to reveal his once-and-former grand-niece, Bronwyn, laying within. She was filthy and _stank_ as if she'd been in that box for _weeks_, and she was terrifyingly still. A machine built into the side of the box with leads going into her side seemed to be all that was feeding her, and she had clearly lost a great deal of weight. "Dead," announced the spy. "No," said Finn. "Drugged." He could see her chest moving. Barely. She was breathing, but so slow and shallow that you would have been forgiven for not noticing.

Now the questions began. How had Kim's daughter ended up _here_? And why? Kim had cut ties with him years ago, though Finn had never returned the favor. Would someone have decided that Kim's people were fair-game because of that relationship? He'd warned Jake to take the pups and go east, and now he feared that Jake's family had waited on that just too long. The important thing now was to get Bronwyn out of here.

**Bronwyn is rescued. One more thread ended. We're in the home-stretch. Of course, Billy still has to figure out Whats in the Box...**


	37. Chapter 37

Chapter 37:

Bronwyn woke with a start to find herself in a soft feather bed. The room was dark around her, and she fumbled for the light on the table. Had she dreamed it? Had she dreamed the men in her room? Flicking the light on, the plush pretty found herself in a tiny room that was much like her room in the family railcar. _A private car,_ she thought. She was on a train somewhere. There was no motion. The train was stopped. _How long,_ she thought? That was a big question with many different answers. How long were they going to be here? Long enough to escape? How long had she been out?

Orzsebet was hunched over the documents Finn had left when the door opened behind her. The King had gone off with _her_ agents, heading into the town to ask some pointed questions. They hadn't found the missing Queen Bee, but they'd found some interesting love letters between the ogress and her evil friend, the wax-hustler. Those documents had led them _here_–a nowhere town in the middle of the bandit-lands. It would have been a nothing place if not for the fact that six rail-lines converged here. The local lord made his hay selling protection to the rail barons. He was the surety that they could stop and resupply their trains here. He protected the marshaling yards and kept his neighbors at bay.

"Good evening, Miss Rainicorn," the Agent Princess rumbled. Bronwyn frowned at the strange woman's back. She didn't know this person. Was this her kidnaper? "They were holding you prisoner," Orzsebet murmured. "Have a seat. The King will be back soon." Bronwyn shivered. She didn't like being in such a position where someone knew so very much about _her_, while she knew nothing about them. More to the point, she didn't know where she was, so she couldn't teleport herself out of this spot. Even if she did, all she had on was a thin nightgown.

Coming around in front of the stranger, she sat herself. Their eyes met. "We were hardly expecting to find you in a box, Miss Rainicorn," Orzsebet rumbled. "Care to tell me how you got there?" "Who are you," Bronwyn demanded? With an airy wave of her hand Orzsebet replied, "agent of the King..." Those words brought back memories. Finn. This woman worked for Finn. That made her one of a handful of people. She wasn't a gangster, clearly. Her mannerisms suggested she was aristocratic. _Agent Princess,_ she thought. "Where am I," Bronwyn asked? "On the King's private train," the Lady of Spies replied. "We brought you here after we rescued you." "W-where's my grand-uncle," Bronwyn demanded? "Where's Finn?" Her voice was edging towards panic, but that stood to reason. She'd been snatched up and locked in a box for weeks.

Those too-knowing brown eyes burned into Bronwyn's eyes, sending ripples of terror shooting through her body. She didn't know this situation, and, for all she knew, she might very well still be a captive. At the same time, she was in somebody's private car, and that someone was connected to Finn. There was a hope that she would at least have an opportunity at escape. All she had to do was figure out where she was. "Ok," said the half-bear, as she sat herself, "what's been going on?"

Down in Jungle Kingdom, the Ice Prince stood facing down disaster as his wife and family dithered. Readings from the bunker were troubling to say the least, but neither Nadia nor Bonnie could think of a way to deal with the problem. They wanted to spend time constructing machines to go down into the bunker to take a look. Sarah had repeatedly offered to go, but Simone had shut that idea down unequivocally. She was bound and determined that they were only going to risk a member of the family if they had some hope of success in resolving the problem. Abieuwa was no help at all. The Jungle Princess bounced back and forth between terror and despair over the risk to her people and a self-righteous indignation over what she saw as usurpation of her people's legacy.

And now, as his phone rang and rang off the hook, the big man was running quite close to the bottom of his well of patience. Glaring at his own mother, who'd just shut down the fourth or fifth attempt by Sarah to enter the bunker, Billy snatched out his phone, flicked it open, and snarled, "_what_?!" A startled Nieve gabbled something that sounded perilously close to nonsense. "I don't have the time, Nieve," Billy growled. "I'm in the middle of a crisis, and I don't have time for the games. Is there something you want?" The young princess had hardly been expecting _that_ reaction. With her grandmother standing there watching her, the young woman did her best to make a peace offer, suggesting that she could come down to the Jungle Kingdom to see him.

Billy frowned at the phone. That didn't make any sense at all, and he said so. "You've made it pretty clear that you don't want anything to do with me, Nieve," Billy retorted. "I've done my best to respect that. I don't really have the time to play games right now. Have a lovely evening." Without a further word, the big man hung up in her face. "William Simon Mertens," Simone growled! "That was perfectly awful of you! That's your..." "That's not any of your business, mom," Billy shot back. "You guys set me up in that mess. I don't want to hear any complaining about it." Simone goggled at him.

Turning to his other wife, Billy said, "the Guild of Surveyors is to schedule a meeting tomorrow morning, Abieuwa. That's not negotiable. I want to see every document. Since a member of this family will be at risk from whatever's down in the bunker, I want to know what the level of risk will be..." "She's a machine," Abieuwa shot back! Even to her own ears it sounded petulant and insensitive, bordering on selfish. "She's not fucking indestructible," Billy shouted! "I won't risk my stepmother's life on your lies! It's not negotiable! Those are my orders! Carry them out or else!" Without another word, the big man strode across the room and out the door, slamming it just about as hard as he could, making a thunderous noise that was heard across the palace.

Abieuwa goggled at the door. When Sarah suggested she go after him to mediate, Simone stopped her. "He's a man, Sarah," she said. "He's asserting himself as a man has to. More to the point, he's right. You could walk into that bunker, take a burst of radiation, and check out just like any of us. In my father's time, machines had to be specially hardened to deal with radioactivity..." A glance at Bonnie's frowning face told Simone all she needed to know. Sarah wasn't going. That was that.

Back in the Candy Palace, Odessa stood over her granddaughter, her face contorted in rage. Nieve lay on the floor sobbing having been slapped hard enough that her ears were ringing. The guards had literally had to pull the older woman off of her. Her grandmother's guards. Her own bodyguard was still in the east in Lizard Kingdom. "You can be replaced, Nieve," Odessa growled. Nieve opened her mouth to suggest that the old bitch get on with it and shut it again as she realized that she might not survive _replacement_. Her aunt was in the King's prison. Finn had custody of Yolanda, and the King gave generous terms to a woman who'd raised a weapon against him. Odessa clearly had no such qualms. The old woman turned and strode out, snapping her fingers at her guards. At the door, the old woman said, "she's to stay here. The Royal Physician will be checking in." Nieve flushed. She'd driven William Mertens away. There was little chance of a baby _now_.

As the young princess pondered escape and the mystery of how her life had gone so terribly wrong, her erstwhile husband was facing his own crisis of faith. The Ice Prince was brooding in the Princess's Private Garden, when his fire-elemental lover found him. The space was beautiful to Olesia's eyes, and she thought it made the perfect place to spend time with a lover. The heat that many of the family found oppressive warmed her strange, malleable flesh, bringing a sense of well-being. At the same time, she'd watched over the last few days as the family's peace slowly began to disintegrate in waves of bickering and anger over a problem that one of their number had brought in. From a gratitude to Abieuwa for accepting things as they were when she found Olesia in bed with her husband, the young princess had grown a little irritated with the wench herself.

Now this.

"I'm sorry you got dragged into this," Billy offered. His expression was twisted in a frown that hardly suited his handsome face. Olesia remembered the smile-wrinkles on his father's face and how the King's face hardly seemed suited to them, and she realized that Billy was slowly walking down the road his father had been on for decades. He was carrying the world–a world that was stubbornly insistent on going its own way even when it was headed straight over a cliff. How long before the man she loved ended up with that perpetual frown on his face?

"William," Olesia interrupted. "Get away. Go out and get away. From _us_." Billy stared at her. Stroking his cheek, she said, "you're too close, honey. You're too close to this. You're always pushing and striving and struggling. For us. For the foolish wenches that share in your life. And us... we're often too self-absorbed to listen when you're trying to save us from _ourselves_. You have to let them _fail_, honey. So they remember why you're here." He knew his jaw was hanging, but he knew she was right. He'd always known it. His father had said it in unguarded moments when he was angry with Bonnie or one of the others. His father had preached it at him the day he headed off to look for the Lich's origin.

"Ok," said Billy. Standing on her toes, the plush princess kissed his cheek. She hadn't been lieing when she said she would be good for him. And maybe that was the thing that kept his dad's life from spiraling out of control. Women like Drew Princess and Lollipop kept Finn from getting sucked into the endless swirl of chaos that were the powerful women who shared his life. Billy leaned in and gave the elemental a smoking kiss before turning and snatching up his jacket. As the plump girl watched, he headed out, bound he knew not where.

As Billy had a bout of honest soul-searching, his father was dealing with a much less esoteric problem. The girl was the sort of plush you typically found in the Purple Kingdom, with plump grapes under her cheap, homespun peasant blouse. The pale bluish tinge to her skin screamed hybrid, suggesting maybe she'd been born to some dude out of Engagement Ring Kingdom, who'd slipped across the border to play. Finn remembered Connie telling him that when they were teens and still tip-toeing around the whole 'dating' thing. Connie had reasoned that if men of her kingdom were ok sneaking across the border to slip one of the locals the ole salami, why couldn't she have a little fun?

Orzsebet's agents had flushed her out of her lair in the shadowport when they rescued Bronwyn. She'd fled into the night, little realizing that the phone she had in her purse was leading her pursuers straight to her. In the cities of the heartland, it wouldn't have mattered. In the Bandit Kingdoms, where InterFone had trouble maintaining its network without having to bribe the locals to piss off, there weren't so many phones that you could disappear into the background. This wench had been easy to catch up to, and they'd just kicked in the door to her hotel room and hauled her out.

She'd been trying out various combinations of her pheremones on Finn and anybody else in the room with little success. Between bangin' the shit out of Orzsebet the previous night and the nanobots in his bloodstream, Finn was hardly interested. More to the point, the spies had been inoculated against such things through the FIRM's fiendish chemistry. They weren't interested either, and the young lady was getting to the bottom of her bag of tricks. She was a jaded soul, and she'd been dancing around the subject of her imprisonment here for hours, doing her best to reveal nothing while she pried information out of her captors. Finn imagined her planning to sell that information to the Bandit Princess when she was free. Which she wasn't ever going to be.

"Let's cut to the chase, Ms. Ghisoni," said Finn. She was leaning forward, trying to show off those tits. Finn now leaned forward. In a soft voice, the big man announced, "there was a second box in your lair... What was in it? Where did you send it?" Coyly, she twirled a lock of her long, dark hair with her finger. "I'm not a man you cross or trifle with," Finn rumbled. "Ask any of these men... Or maybe you could ask Mr. Hansen..." That name did get her attention. "Yeah," he said, "your boyfriend's probably fertilizing a field right now..." Her face curled into a frown.

Leaning in, the big man said, "I hurt him... a lot. I hurt people who harm those I care for. I handed him over to men who continued to hurt him. He was happy to roll over on you for little or nothing. He told us where the box with my grand-niece went. He sent us right to you. He's dead. There's no reason to hold loyalty to him or anybody else. Save your own life... Tell me where the other box went..." The plump woman looked taken aback by all of that. Her coy and haughty demeanor deflated just a little. He could see the calculation. She was calculating that maybe she could bluff him or talk her way out of this.

"You're Finn the Human," she rumbled. "I know who you are... More importantly, I know the _man_ you are. You'd never hurt a woman..." Sitting back, she gave him a sweet smile that seemed to say, 'checkmate'. Her eyes said it. What was he going to do now? Lock her up? She wasn't going to talk. She wasn't going to betray her hidden masters. Finn grimaced as he was confronted with the ugly that was the world of the King of Ooo. He had a choice–betray his friend or betray the principles he'd lived with all his life.

Sitting back, the big man said, "you're right, Ms. Ghisoni. I'm not a man who commonly kills or harms women. I'd certainly never torture a woman." Turning to the spies, the big man said, "please torture Ms. Ghisoni. I'll be outside." Without a further word, the King got up, slid his chair back under the table and strode towards the door. Imogen Ghisoni stared at his back as he walked across that room. Her eyes flicked to the ugly, masked men around her. She knew very well what a mask did to a man. Her now-dead boyfriend had told her what it felt like to put a mask on his face. It was like hiding what you were from the world. It was... _liberating_. Burglary? Highway robbery? Child's play. Even _murder_ was no issue when you wore a mask. Who would know you?

"I-I...," she stammered. The King kept walking, his hand reaching for the door. Something told her that, did he put his hand on that knob, she'd be left here alone with these ugly, ugly men. And they would hurt her. They would inflict cruelty on her very-tender flesh. These masked men didn't have any qualms about hurting a woman, and she knew it as well as Finn the Human did. "It went across the ocean to the shadowport in the south," said the gangster. Finn stopped. Chest rising and falling with her terror, the plump woman stared at his back. The King didn't move. Torture was still on the table.

Taking a deep breath, the plump woman sat there a moment, caught like a spider in a web, hanging between life and death. "It was a kidnap victim," she admitted. "They flew her in from Bee Kingdom. There were a dozen bee-peeps who flew her here. I didn't see what was going on. That's... not what you do." It wasn't _safe_ to watch. It wasn't a good idea to know too much. Knowing too much brought you into precarious spots like this, where you were on the edge of being tortured to death. Finn turned slightly to face her, and the plump woman began to spill her guts. She'd heard them. They talked in code, but she thought the woman was important–that maybe she was a noble or even a Royal. She'd been boxed up by the bee-peeps. Imogen herself had given them the materials and left them to their work. Her men had put the crate on a ship and sent it to the shadowport on the eastern edge of the jungle. Nodding, Finn said, "you get to keep on breathing a little longer, Ms. Ghisoni. You're going to write all of that down. Now." In the right now, Finn was headed back to his train to look in on Bronwyn.

Late that same day, the King's son strode up to the Ugly Jackal bar with beer on his mind. He'd been wandering most of the afternoon, ignoring the increasingly frantic phone calls from Abieuwa's number–and even a couple from Rags and Noemi. He was cooling off–slowly. He was no longer enraged to the point of wanting to smash someone. Now he just wanted them to take a minute to really think about things. They weren't on a good trajectory here. The bunker was getting worse. Billy didn't have all the science, but looking at the increasingly worried faces of Bonnie, Nadia, Blargetha, and Sarah, he had a sense that the readings were getting worse, not better. The bunker was going critical. He didn't think it would be overnight, but he didn't think they had piles of time either, and Abieuwa needed to step up and stop playing games with the knowledge that she had.

Just now, after spending the afternoon roaming around under the still-stifling winter sun, the Ice Prince wanted a pint of something cool. It seemed forever ago that he'd slipped into a bar with JJ at his side and had that first glass of beer. His dad had always let him have a little beer once in a great while–usually after they'd finished some big chore on the treehouse, but he'd never had a whole one all to himself until that night. Striding into a bar in an isolated corner of Abieuwa's capitol, the big man found himself reflecting.

Life had seemed so simple back then. He had everything he thought a man needed–a good job, a woman who loved him, and big dreams for the future. He imagined his father felt much the same. _I can see how men come to hate women, when it sometimes feels like all the trouble in the world comes from _them_,_ he thought. It wasn't right to think that way, and he knew it. At the same time, there were moments Nieve wasn't the only person he would have put over his knee.

The music was thumping inside the bar–a searing beat heavy on the drums. It was the sort of music his wife loved to play–and Rags and Noemi loved to hate. As his eyes adjusted to the dim light inside the bar, he was arrested by a sight that stole his breath and came close to having him drooling. The woman tending the bar had his immediate interest. He'd honestly acquired a taste for dog-girls because he'd banged the shit out of JJ on occasions so numerous, it didn't bear thinking about. His long-lost wife had been hungry for dick like nobody he'd met since–maybe Katsumi, though she had reason to be after literal centuries of being celibate.

The girl was tall as he was, with pale platinum-blonde color, complimented by a big, poofy blue dress like a woman in the north might wear. She sported a generous endowment of big, round knockers, and she came broad in the beam like his mom. Icy blue-grey eyes completed the look. Beautiful and exotic, she had him forgetting all about his earlier thoughts of swearing off women. It was crazy, really, because he already knew the answer, but Billy couldn't help wondering how his dad had managed not to jump on every hot chick he came across because he certainly _could_ have.

The girl was the center of attention there in the tavern with a couple dozen horny bar-flies clustered tight to the bar such that the waiters and waitresses had to wade through them them. She soaked up that attention like the beautiful creature she was. At least she did until Billy approached. Their eyes immediately locked, and the girl gave him a smile that said 'come hither'. Of course there were a bunch of thirsty dudes there between them.

Hundreds of miles to the north, the big man's sister stood facing down her own failures as she stared out at the gap in the wall. Billy had left word with Star and Lollipop that he wanted Fionna packed and ready to go at short notice. Trouble was that, even with the crisis with the dummies who wanted to stir up war squashed, Fionna the Human Girl was troubled. She wanted the wall closed. Her great masterpiece of work was unfinished, and with the Grid Face People and their princess bending all their will to the crisis in the south, the hoped-for help seemed as though it wasn't coming any time soon.

She was sitting on an isolated hilltop–something that irritated Princess Ingrid. The Warrior Princess looked on all the world as a grand battlefield–a cosmic chessboard with enemies and allies scattered across it. A wise general did his best to keep the enemy scattered and his–or _her_–friends close. It hardly did good to have an ally, after all, if they insisted on putting their neck out there on the block to get their head chopped off. "Ok, Fionna," growled the older woman. It always seemed to come out that way to Fionna, even when Ingrid was being peaceable. She was one of the oddest of the Royal Wives. "What's ailing you," asked the tall blonde?

"The defensive barrier is of limited utility when there remains a massive vulnerability in a critical area," Fionna replied. "You still not sleeping," Ingrid rumbled, as she sat herself. Of all Finn's children, she felt the closest kinship with this one. She didn't understand William. She'd never understood wizards or their habits. The little wood-nymph was odd for no other reason than that she desired to remain aloof from power–as if that was possible for a princess. Fionna was very straightforward. At least she was when she wasn't having a moment like this.

Fionna flushed to her hair at that hard question. "I imagined that I didn't need to portray a falsehood before you, mother," she replied. Ingrid chuckled, "because I didn't know the old you, eh?" Draping an arm over the younger woman's shoulder in familiar fashion, the tall blonde murmured, "just between us girls... it's not the words from your mouth that cause the angst, Fionna... Nobody's ever going to forget how this came to be. I'm a warrior. Sentimentality has no place on a battlefield. I made my peace with your husband's actions and their reasons. He did have good reasons, as you've said yourself. I don't have to _enjoy_ the changes."

Fionna frowned at her, and replied, "I thought you just said..." "...that _sentimentality_ has no place on a battlefield," Ingrid interrupted. "I can feel my emotions without giving them _free reign_." The younger woman shut her mouth. Reaching down, the tall princess took the youth's hand, twining their fingers together. "What's ailing you," she asked? "I told you," Fionna replied. "But you have the power in your hands to _finish_ the barrier," Ingrid replied. Fionna glared at her. "I risk burning the forest to the ground," the Glass Witch replied. Ingrid let out a long sigh and said, "look at me... Fionna. Look. At. Me." The pretty blonde turned to face her, those grey eyes betraying sadness mixed with irritation.

"You're letting this other thing that Patrick wants you to be interfere with what you _are_," Ingrid advised. "Listen to your _instincts_. What do they tell you?" Taking a heavy sigh, Fionna replied, "that I can't use half-remembered lessons in chemistry and physics to finish the barrier... I'm... I'm not going to finish it this way." "And," Ingrid demanded? "You're asking me to risk tens of thousands of lives and risk the border itself...," Fionna growled! "I'm asking my stepdaughter to trust _herself_," Ingrid replied.

Back in the Jungle Kingdom, Billy the Human looked up as the barflies began to chant, 'Milkshake! Milkshake! Milkshake!' He was puzzled, not least because this hardly seemed the kind of bar to serve kiddy drinks. He was puzzled at least until the dog-girl climbed up on the bar and began to dance. The big man's mouth dropped open as the tall woman began to do a sexy can-can dance, showing off those amazing fucking legs and shaking that big, juicy ass. Occasionally, the sexy she would bend over slightly and let the boys peep those mega-knockers. Milkshake indeed! The fellas began hurling money at the pretty girl. The more she shook what her momma gave her, the more the crowd howled, and Billy could see how she'd come to be so popular. His dick was hard as an iron bar in his pants, and his mouth was dry as a bone as that outrageous dance wound down.

Face flushed, the pretty dog-girl climbed down from the bar, gathering up the tips that had been thrown her way before heading for the back room, much to the general unhappiness of the patrons. Billy stared at the door where the mystery girl had gone as hard as any of the others. Shaking himself, the big man turned back to his beer and his problems. Having cooled off, he was now working on his apology tour. He'd gotten nasty a couple of times the last few days. He didn't like the feeling of that, and he wanted to get that square.

The big man sat there a number of hours slowly working his way down through a couple of beers as he strategized how to smooth the ruffled feathers without humbling himself too much. He knew very well that if he did that, the unhappy lesson would never take. As he pondered his way through the maze of baby-mama-drama, the crowd at the bar thinned out. The girl had said she was off shift, and she clearly wasn't coming back.

Somewhere near ten, a burst of perfume brought his mind back from tomorrow. Billy glanced up to see the bartender there. "Hi," she greeted him. Billy glanced up into her lovely eyes and found himself staring, rendered speechless. Drawing a chair, she remarked, "new in town? You must be new, or I'd have heard about that handsome face..." It was the corniest thing he'd ever heard come out of a girl's mouth, and it made him laugh out loud. Usually it was men saying things like that. The girl flushed to her hair, looking like she'd run off. Billy gave her a smile, took her hand and offered, "have a seat..."

There were a few jealous faces watching, but the place was mostly empty, working its way down towards closing time. "I'm Simone," she announced. "Bill," Billy replied, as he shook her hand. With a sly smile, she asked, "did you like my dance?" Billy blushed. The pointed ears sticking out of her hair swivelled this way and that, sifting the sounds from the bar, reminding Billy that he was kinda' crowding the line in a way. It was a little weird to think about that, but it was also very dangerous. Back in the days when he worked for the Banana Guard part time, he'd had to clean up a couple ugly fights when dudes got into it over a girl. Popular is Simone was, he could easily find himself in a fight over her if they stayed in this place. "Hey," he said, "let's split. This doesn't seem like a good place to hang out." Simone was quite willing, and, in short order, the pair were headed down the street towards her place.

The young lady kept an apartment over a ramshackle store–a place that had once belonged to her mother before she took a powder. Sitting at the kitchen table in the run-down, squalid little apartment, the big man couldn't help but wonder how a girl like this ended up in Jungle Kingdom living above a storefront and working as a barkeep. "Job belonged to my mom," Simone admitted. "She landed it after she lost the store..." Billy frowned at that. "Well," said Simone, as she laid out tea for him, "she was a pretty bad business-woman, but that wasn't the only reason. My sister, Lady, kept wandering off into the jungle and getting in over her head. When the Guard has to haul your butt out of danger, they fine you. A lot." "Sister," Billy asked, as he glanced around?

"Oh, I have two sisters," Simone explained, as she sat down beside him. "Liz is my other sister... Her thing's fast, loose living. I guess I'm the _boring_ sister." Billy shivered. Those were the three names he and JJ had been batting around for their daughters. Frowning, curiosity eating him up, the big man asked, "how long have you been living here?" With a shrug, she said, "a few years. It's... well, it's all been kind of a blur... My sisters and I grew up fast... Mom says we have rainicorn-blood. I think she was just happy to get out from under taking care of us as soon as she could."

The pale beauty explained how their mother had begun to disappear more and more as the three sisters got older. Simone had more or less taken up the slack–looking after Liz and Lady, doing her best to keep them out of the endless troubles they got themselves into. It hadn't been easy. Liz had their mother's habits of stealing other people's shit and running with bad peeps down to a T. Simone had been at the local Guard House repeatedly bailing her out–hocking half the shit in their house in the process. When you added in Lady's habits of wandering in the jungles, Simone had wanted to dump the pair herself!

"You seemed a little... well... grossed out earlier," Simone murmured. "I'm not a ho... I... I started doing that dance to earn tips..." When Billy opened his mouth to protest, she cut him off, saying, "that's the honest truth. I'm... I want a quality guy. I've been trying to earn enough money to get myself out of this place. I hate it here. It's too damned hot for a dog, and I feel icky and sweaty all the time. Momma dumped us here, and I just want to leave now."

Leaning forward, the heavy-duty hot-dog murmured, "so... That's my life story." Nipping playfully at his elbow, she said, "wanna' get naked...? You're kinda' hot." With a heavy sigh, Billy sat up straight, stared deep into her beautiful blue-grey eyes, and proclaimed, "I'm also your dad, Simone." You could have pushed her over with a feather. She stared at him. Nodding, he said, "my mother's name is Simone. She's your height and build. Big knobs and butt, and platinum blonde hair. You got half of what you are from me. And her."

It was five in the morning, when the Ice Prince strode into the Princess's Royal Salon. He'd spent the night with Simone II as he now called her, prizing out bits of information about who she was and where she was really from. The more he talked to her, the more he became convinced that his guess was true. Somehow JJ was alive. He smelled a rat. He'd been barred from going to the funeral. His wife and kids were buried, and Kim Kil Wan had slapped a restraining order on him to keep him from seeing them one last time. In the moment, it was just the usual dickish maneuver from the meanest of the pups. Now Billy saw something else. Kim had been covering for the fact that the coffin was empty. JJ wasn't in it because, somehow, she'd survived.

His dad had seen the autopsy reports, and he'd accepted them as true. Billy's ice had ruptured some pretty major blood vessels in JJ's lung. She'd drowned in her own blood. Billy had given her first-aid, but he hadn't been able to get a heart beat. Now he had new ideas as to why.

The big man found the princesses head-down and immersed in the job of figuring out what was going on down in the bunker. Newly added to the mix was his brother, Boniface. Abieuwa was on the hot-seat, and gathered in front of her were reams of documents that looked like blueprints. _Schematics for the bunker,_ Billy thought. She'd finally come around to doing the right thing. _Not a moment too soon,_ thought the young prince. Striding into the gathering, Billy announced, "I know what happened inside the bunker, and I know who did this..." Five beautiful faces whipped around to face him.

Billy held them off a moment, while he sent for two more key players. Simone was close friends with Lady. There was a possibility that she'd heard something... _odd_ in the last few years that would have made her suspicious. Much like Simon, Simone had a near-photographic memory for absurd little details. Cherry, as Boss of Bosses, might well be aware that there was a rogue player running around. He didn't want to think that she'd helped cover up JJ's disappearance, but there was a possibility she knew indirectly that the Rogue Pup was alive.

Cherry was a little disheveled, looking as though she'd been pulling another all-nighter. Simone was, much like her namesake, fresh and put-together, looking as though she had the world just where she wanted it. "Need you all to have a seat," Billy announced, "because this is going to get heavy fast." Simone immediately steered herself to a chair. Cherry was a beat late, and she was still in the process of applying ass to seat when Billy announced, "Jake Junior caused the criticality incident in the vault."

Cherry's legs went to rubber, and she sat down in a rush. Simone's mouth came open, while Abieuwa and Blargetha just stared at him in puzzlement. Bonnie and Sarah both goggled at him as if they hadn't heard that right. Bon opened the conversation in his usual calm, collected tone with a dispassionate, "explain..."

It took a moment. Billy found himself gathering his thoughts as he tried to formulate an explanation for the hunch that was burning in his mind now. The big man began far off the mark, explaining that it was unlikely that, even with the amount of material stored in the vault and the dubious methods of containing the radiation used now that they should be having a criticality incident. "Abieuwa's people have been having trouble keeping their purification machinery running," he reminded them. "The methods of storing the fuel pellets have been crude, but the material itself has been much less potent than it was in the distant past. The further up you go in the bunker, the less pure the nuclear fuel becomes. It doesn't make sense that we should have a criticality incident now, when her fuel isn't nearly as good as it once was."

Nodding, Bon agreed, "if the fuel is less potent, but the interval between storage units is maintained as is shown in the schematics, the risk of a criticality incident goes down. There has to be some outside force that brought one or more storage vessels into contact to create a critical mass. I think you're correct, William. Someone or something would have had to enter the bunker and bring one or more fuel containers together. It's likely not enough to go prompt-critical, but it's enough to raise the radiation flux in the bunker and possibly trigger a greater excursion..."

Her lovely face constricted in a frown, Bonnie interrupted, "and you think _Junior's_ behind this?" Her voice said it. She thought he'd lost his mind. Junior had been literally _dead_ for years. "I met my _daughter_, Bonnie," Billy rumbled. Shaking his head, he said, "her momma named her Simone–after her grandmother on her dad's side. Pale hair, grey eyes, big knockers, and a big butt." Simone flushed to her hair at that assessment of her _assets_ by her own son. "How," howled Bonnie? "How's that possible? She's not a candy-person!" The decorspinator serum couldn't have worked on her. "But she _is_ a quarter alien, Bonnie," rumbled Cherry. "Her father took a dose of poison strong enough to kill fifty normal dogs. And survived it."

Abeiuwa moved the conversation to where it really needed to go. "You say she caused this," growled the Jungle Princess. "Explain." "She's been in your bunker," said Billy. "My daughter said that her mom abandoned her and her sisters here. She abandoned my kids here because she's an awful mom. They were here by themselves through the Lich War. They were here through the war with Wildberry and the Dipped. And then, suddenly, their mom pops up again. Just _weeks_ ago."

"She was here for a score," Cherry surmised. Billy nodded. Momentarily, Sarah and Simone were nodding too. It fit. It fit with everything they knew, collectively, about Jake Junior. The score was everything. "She managed to trick her dad into breaking into my most impregnable vault," Bonnie sighed. "If anybody could get into that bunker, it would be Junior." "But why," demanded Abeiuwa? "What would she gain? She's no scientist. She's a common thief." "But she maybe knew my 'benefactors'," Blargetha sighed. When the others turned to face her, the evil princess explained, "they wanted death-rockets, Bonnibel. They wanted me to build death-rockets. As you well know, such a machine is useless without..." "Something to put on the tip," growled Simone. "She stole them enriched uranium to use in making a bomb." "And probably knocked something over down there," Billy concluded. "She's not careful, Abeiuwa. She's never been careful. Life's a big joke and a big game to her."

Moving on, Bonnie reminded him, "you said you had an answer for the problem." "Junior," Billy replied. "She's been in the bunker. She knows where she knocked over whatever pile of fuel pellets that's gone critical..." "I'll call out the guard to hunt her," shouted Abieuwa! "I've got a better idea," said Cherry, as she drew her phone. As the others watched in worry and growing disbelief, the Boss of Bosses put a hit out on Billy's daughter. Only Billy was in anyway unmoved when she finished. Without a word, he turned to go, saying, "I'll be back tonight. Have Olesia and Fionna here waiting on me."

**So, who was expecting THAT plot twist?**


	38. Chapter 38

Chapter 38:

"Fionna," growled Ingrid, as she pounded on the slate outside her stepdaughter's tent?! "Where is that girl?!" The airship was leaving soon, and she needed to have Fionna on it. In response to the pounding and grumbling, a yawning Patrick Petrikov exited the tent he and his wife shared. "She's not here," yawned Patrick. "She left last night..." Grabbing at her hair, Ingrid muttered, "the ship's leaving. It's leaving in twenty minutes. She knows that." Nodding, Patrick replied, "yeah, she does. She'll be here..." Before he could say another word, the tall woman turned and strode off, muttering curses. She knew exactly where Fionna was. She'd gone back to the fucking wall.

Minutes later, the Warrior Princess came thundering through astride a beautiful purple horse, sending soldiers diving out of her way. Patrick rolled his eyes. She didn't _get_ Fi. Sometimes _he_ didn't get the Bad Bunny, and he was married to her. Fionna had a terminal case of her dad's overwhelming sense of responsibility. It had come creeping up on Finn the Human as he got older, only really reaching late-stage when Fionna and Star came into the world. For Fi, it had come on early, fast, and _strong_, and Patrick was saddened to realize just how much he'd helped it along. New Fionna wasn't going to rush out of here until she was certain she'd found an answer for the crisis at the border.

Ingrid had moved the army's camp back to the shelter of the wood-nymphs' wall, posting the majority of the army outside the gate where it was easier to find shelter and resupply. Now she went riding along the wall, headed north at high speed, her mind on what she would have to say. Much as she needed Fionna _here_, the world needed the curvy blonde in the south right-fucking-now. Her mind struggled to encompass what a mushroom bomb could do. All she could think of was the vast _wound_ in the land that the elementals called home. Ooo couldn't take another wound like that. She was sure of it. The crisis in Jungle Kingdom had to get solved, and she'd tie Fionna up and bundle her onto the airship herself if it came down to it.

Thundering along, dodging stumps and the occasional boulder, the tall beauty very nearly ran over her stepdaughter. Pulling up at the very last moment, she almost threw herself over the head of the horse–an embarrassing way to check out. "Fionna," she howled, "where have you been?!" Rolling her eyes, Fionna replied, "solving the problem. I spent most of last night getting the barrier as close as I could without setting fire to the forest. You only have a thousand feet left to defend. You could probably do it with a small fort or something. That should keep you going until I get back."

Ingrid choked back what she'd been about to say. There seemed little point. Shaking herself, she said, "here. Take my horse..." "What're you going to do," Fionna protested? "_Walk_," Ingrid retorted, "same as you were going to do." "You ever think that maybe you can still be hurt...," Fionna growled? Ingrid chuckled, as she shoved the Bad Bunny towards the horse. She could have asked the same question. "You have a talent that can save life, Fionna," she murmured, as the curvy blonde reluctantly climbed into the saddle. The Angel of Death could only take them. It was only when the bunny-girl was gone that she realized what Fionna had meant. She knew the truth. The tall princess shivered. Shaking her head, she loosened her sword in its scabbard and began walking. Some unhappy slime-folk were soon going to be digging at some cold, frozen ground.

In the south, Finn the Human stepped out of his quarters to find Bronwyn sitting at the table in his salon. "B," he greeted her. "Finn," she replied. She was dressed in the rough traveling dress that Orzsebet had bought for her the previous day. It wasn't the fine silk she was used to, though it did remind him of happier times when she was young and not so jaded and her father not so much of a dick. "I've left instructions with the crew to take you back to the Candy Kingdom," the big man said, as he bustled around, gathering up the things he needed to take. He would be traveling light. "Why," she asked?

The big man stopped what he was doing, turning a frown on her. "Don't you want to get home to your peeps," the King asked? "I told you yesterday that I thought my father might be in the conspiracy somehow," she muttered. "You'd... you'd send me home after that?" Finn replied, "you're not an agent. I found you in a box. That's pretty much proof of that. As for your dad... I'd guess if he's doing their dirty work, they were using you for leverage..." Shooting to her feet, she growled, "he was doing their work _before_ I was kidnaped. They murdered my mom's in-law... just stabbed the shit out of him. How can I know...?" She stopped, mid-sentence, and he imagined her experiencing a pretty horrifying epiphany.

What if her dad _knew_ she had dug something up? What if he'd agreed to let her be silenced? It wasn't likely, but it was a possibility. Her dad had been calling him, off and on, on the down-low. Finn had been pretty much ignoring him, though he'd had cause to wonder what the dude wanted. They had never been _close_, and Kim's dick behavior over the years towards Finn and his family had pretty much sealed that deal. It was out of character for Kim to call Finn. Having rescued Bronwyn from being drugged and locked in a box in her own filth, Finn had some idea what it was the man wanted. He could imagine Kim begging his help to find her.

Trouble was, he could also imagine Bronwyn as right.

What if Kim _was_ up to no good? He'd left cryptic messages about needing to talk to Finn about urgent business. What if he was still importing thugs to do the bidding of his _friends_? What if he was hitting Finn up for something even more dangerous? It was out of character for Kim Kil Wan to admit to needing a glob-damned thing from his once-and-former _uncle_, but it was well within his character to be running a game.

"Look," Bronwyn murmured, "I can help you. I'm the strongest teleporter in the family... That's got to be useful for something..." She was set on this. He could see signs of real fear and distress in her eyes. Finn sighed. While Bronwyn had been cunty towards his kids a time or two, she'd never gone all in on the Finn family. At the end of the day, this was his brother's granddaughter. He couldn't leave her here to an uncertain future. "Ok," he said. "We're traveling light. Don't bring a lot of stuff. Things can get ugly. You'll need to keep up. We're not going skateboarding..."

Bronwyn blinked in sudden memory. He remembered that. He had actually brought that up. The tall half-bear laughed. She laughed and laughed. "Still a better skater than you," she chuckled, as she headed for the door, round ass wig-wagging sensually. Finn found himself shaking his head and laughing a little too. There were so many days he wanted his old, _simple_ life back.

Late that day, in a seedy neighborhood in the capitol of the Jungle Kingdom, a furtive figure came slipping down an alley. The destination was a ramshackle apartment over an abandoned store front. The occupant of that apartment was in jeopardy of her life and likely didn't even realize it. But that was the deal when you had family that was mobbed-up. You could get slagged for shit that you had nothing to do with and never see it coming.

It was the ugly secret of the gangs. Regular peeps were supposed to be off-limits. You never touched the normies because it brought heat from the law. Everybody knew that. To a large extent it was true. Small time hoods muscled storekeeps for protection money or robbed the occasional normy on the street, but it was just to get cash, and the capos weren't really a factor. There was little point in snatching normies off the street or whacking them because they were normies. They didn't _have any money_. Sometimes, though, normies had family in the gangs. Sometimes they knew it. A lot of times they didn't. But the gangs knew.

The lights were out in the little apartment when the figure slipped in literally under the door, exercising a shocking degree of control over shape and body mass. Watchful eyes took note of that. She hadn't been able to do that before. Taking a moment to sniff the air, the skinny creature stepped off, bound for the room at the back of the apartment.

"So," announced Billy, "how is it that you're still alive?"

Jake Junior spun about to find her ex-husband coming out of the shadows. She'd looked there. She would have sworn she looked there. Then her heart dropped. Billy was a wizard. He'd secretly been a wizard the whole time they'd been married, and she hadn't had any idea. He was no longer hiding his powers now. She'd gone into the ugly final fight with him thinking she had all the aces and very nearly ended up _dead_. Now, things were all out in the open, and her advantages were even smaller now. Did she have _any_ edge at all?

"Moved my heart," she replied, as she cleared the space between them, "so you wouldn't hear a heartbeat. You're such a sucker, you fell for it. Still barely made it. You tore up my lung pretty good. I died three times while they were working on me." Her father and brothers had kicked in a lot of blood to save her life. Kim had paid off the coroner's office to forget that there was no body.

With the cat figuratively out of the bag, the circling began. He was feeling her out–nothing like the confident kid she'd nearly murdered. No, she didn't have any advantages here, and she wasn't sure she could get out the door without a fight. Her family wasn't here to rescue her from death this time. She'd faced long odds before and after their relationship–getting into scrapes that should have killed her, honestly. The odds had never been sharper than they were today. William Simon Mertens was a very dangerous man.

As they circled, Billy appraised his former wife. "Butt got bigger," he opined. She'd gone from thirty-three-inch hips to a solid thirty-six. Her face went hot. "You try pushing twenty pounds out of your stomach," JJ retorted. "Your ass will grow too." "Still a nice butt," Billy chuckled. In some ways, it was like the old days with the teasing and banter. "You don't look s'bad either," she said. "You get married again? I heard you got married. Looks like she's feeding you pretty good." Chuckling, Billy patted his stomach. That was Olesia's doing. Ragnhild, Abieuwa, or Noemi get caught in the kitchen? Perish the thought!

His voice took on a serious tone as he said, "you have to come with me, JJ. Whatever you did down in the bunker... it's causing a big problem. Everybody in this kingdom could die. That's you, me, and our kids..." "I'm not going with you," she replied. "Whatever's going on here isn't my problem..." It was just like always. Jake Junior wasn't big on personal responsibility. Much like her dad, she had issues owning up to what she'd done. "Ok," Billy said, "I guess we'll be doing this the hard way."

The shapechanger leaped first. She was quick that way. She'd been far quicker than he back in their old apartment. She relied on the speed that had always saved her life. This time, though, something went drastically wrong. This time, it felt a lot like she was trying to move through an ocean of jello. Billy barely moved, but she missed by a mile.

The murderess tried again, slashing at him with her claws. She failed even harder this time. The harder she tried, the slower she seemed to get. It was only when she stopped a moment that she saw her breath, steaming in the icy interior. Her face whipped this way and that, only now taking note of the coating of rime glittering on the walls and every surface in the room.

It took two tries to get the words out, as she babbled, "w-what'd you... what'd you do t'me?" Mildly, Billy rumbled, "your nervous system is shutting down. You're too cold to control your own body." She'd go into shock soon if he didn't do something. "What'll you tell...," she stammered. He knew what she was asking. What was he going to tell their daughters? Fortunately, he had a ready answer. Concentrating, he reached deep inside his evil ex-wife and chilled her body to a numbingly cold temperature, forcing her into a state of suspended animation, a tremendous thud announcing her fall as she hit the floor.

Simone II stepped out of the back room, her face constricted in a look of horror at the scene there in her living room. "D-did you," she wailed? "No, honey," he replied. "She's sleeping. I've put her whole body to sleep. We're going to take her to the prison, where I can thaw her out again." Motioning for her to come to him, the big man took her hands, making her feel the power of the Ice Tiara flowing within him. As the definitive proof that this _was_ his child, her eyes got big, as she felt the power of the Ice Tiara. She glanced at her mother's frozen body, as understanding passed between them. "She'll be ok," he said. Drawing back, Simone said, "she's done something awful! I felt that! You... There's people who want her..." "I'm not going to kill her," Billy replied. "My dad's not a person who likes cold-blooded murder. Your grand-dad will put her in prison. You can visit her there." Turning to the door, he said, "I hope you will. I want better for you than this."

Soldiers came up from the store below. They'd been waiting and listening for their master's orders. Now, they grimly bundled the strange humanoid woman into a steel cannister, latching the lid on tight. Taking his daughter by the hand, Billy set off behind them, following the Jungle Guard through the warm night air. Part of him was delighted. He couldn't help giving his daughter's hand a squeeze, and, for a moment, he knew utter peace. He had his daughters back–at least he had one of them.

The family was mostly still up when the big man reached the palace. The guards headed straight for the dungeon with the containment vessel housing his comatose and flash-frozen wife while Billy went to the salon where his people were working. Cherry and Simone were closeted together when the young hero came rolling in, and that brought a frown to his handsome young face. He and Cherry were polite if not cordial, and he wasn't sure what it was that his mom would have to say to the woman who'd tried to wreck her family and take her husband.

It didn't really bear thinking about in the moment. Judging by the expressions on some of the faces there, sleep was a precious commodity right now. "Fi here," he asked? "Just arrived," said Nadia. She was looking at his daughter. "Princess Nadia," he announced, "this is my daughter, Simone." Spying Abieuwa's manservant, the big man called out, "hey, Engessa? Can you take my daughter here and find her someplace to sleep? She's had a rough day." The butler came striding over. Offering a smile to the young lady, he coaxed her to come with him.

"Did you find her," asked Nadia? Nodding, as he went striding into the salon, Billy explained, "went just like I expected..." He'd distracted her with banter, keeping her from teleporting herself out of that room. She'd gone straight to claws, letting him get the upper hand, but JJ had always been cocky–full of herself. Fi was in the corner, asleep on the couch, looking thoroughly wrung out. They were all starting to see the kind of mileage their dad had. Shaking himself, Billy moved on. "Hey, everybody," the big man announced.

Simone and Cherry broke off their conversation and came striding across the room, as the family began to gather around the Ice Prince. "Mission success," Billy announced. "Got her. She's down in the dungeon." Yawning, Fionna burbled, "what course of action are we pursuing?" Billy did a double-take. _Tired, Bill,_ he thought. His sister was as tired as she looked. "We'll put the screws on her," Billy replied. Glancing at Nadia, the big man asked, "how tough is that portable forcefield gadget of yours?" The busty princess replied, "the radiation flux in the bunker is so strong that you'd need the highest setting to survive. The battery supply won't take you more than a few hundred feet..." "But the forcefield _will_ keep the radiation at bay," Billy insisted? "For a time," replied Nadia, "yes." "Good enough," Billy replied. He wouldn't entertain any further conversation on the matter. He had a plan, but this wasn't the time to discuss it.

Turning to Bonnie, the big man asked, "how bad are things in the bunker?" Blargetha announced, "getting worse, William. My readings indicate that we have days until a full-fledged excursion." "Excursion," Billy burbled? "A boom," Bonnie confirmed. The big man glanced at the slime person. "I'm a little bit less susceptible," she said. She'd been in the bunker. The thought blew his mind. The big man glanced to Abieuwa, who glanced away. She'd had no choice, clearly. "We need to start thinking about the evacuation," Bonnie murmured.

That was ominous news. "What're we talking about," Billy asked? "How big?" "The event won't catalyze all the nuclear material," Blargetha replied. "The contents of the bunker are too widely separated and contained for that to happen. We're likely to see a significant event from the contents of the storage locker where the excursion is taking place. That will be sufficient to possibly blow a hole through several floors of the bunker and up through the roof, scattering highly enriched nuclear material for hundreds of miles..." Billy thought of the kingdoms on the other side of the ocean. Those kingdoms were now the breadbasket of Ooo. They depended on the fields in Muscle Kingdom and even the kelp-beds off shore to feed a population displaced by the Lich-War and the Dipped. This disaster could devastate the fields that fed their people.

Simone grabbed his hand, shaking him out of his shock and terror. The touch of her too-chill fingers on his hand seemed to say that they could fix this. The big man glanced up and found his mom and sister staring at him. His daughters were here. He had to try. He had to get into the bunker and get this squared away. "Ok," he said. "Fi? You're on the job of looking at the forcefield gadget. We need to figure out how to protect ourselves going into the bunker. O? In about an hour, we're going down to wake up my ex. Blargetha? I need a sketch of the insides of the bunker, and I need an estimate of how far in I have to go. Get that estimate to Fi and Nadia. Bonnie, Cherry, Simone, and Abieuwa are on the plans to get people out of the country if we have to evacuate."

The gathering broke up. Billy stopped his mom before she too would have headed off to get to work. "I'm...," Billy started to say. Simone cut him off, pressing her fingers to his lips. "I pushed too hard, my sweet son," she replied. Throwing her arms around her favorite child, the tall woman hugged him tight. "You're everything I ever wanted you to be," she sighed. "I shouldn't have shouted," Billy insisted. "Sometimes you have to shout, honey," she said. "Sometimes it takes a shout for a woman to hear a man. Forgiven. It's all forgiven." Kissing his cheek, the tall woman got on her way. It was all hands on deck once again to pull the world out of the fire.

It was an hour later that the gang was gathered together once more. They were met in front of a steel chamber that brought Billy to mind of the lab spaces under Bonnie's home. The space was fitted with a massively overbuilt steel door that fit tightly into its frame like a vault. The door held a single window, fitted with a piece of glass so thick, it was like looking down through a fishbowl at the floor beneath. _Secrets,_ thought the Ice Prince. His dad had always said there was more going on in Jungle Kingdom than met the eye, and now Billy wondered just what it was that this room had been used for in the dim, distant past. Of course, in the right now, it was a very effective containment for a very dangerous creature. "Ok, Olesia," said Billy. "Thaw her out."

The elemental focused her senses, channeling thermal energy into the figure in the cell. Billy could feel the air chill minutely, as his lady gathered energy from around them. And then, the monster he'd married came to vibrant, angry life. Jake Junior shot up from the bed, full of fight. She stopped stock still when she realized who she was facing. Two very powerful wizards and an elemental. Coming to her senses, the shapechanger looked out to find a fair chunk of her family standing there. Bill. His momma. His idiot sister. Shockingly, her old boss was there too. Clacking the intercom, Billy greeted his ex with, "hey." "Bill," she greeted him in return, adding a figurative tip of the hat for the gangster-girl. "Junior," Cherry replied.

"I'm'a cut straight to the chase," Billy growled. He sounded nothing like that happy-go-lucky man she'd fallen in love with. He sounded... dangerous. He'd snookered her pretty fucking good, in point of fact. She should have teleported out of there. Trouble was, she had no fucking idea where she was now. Teleportation was out of the question. If only she'd inherited her mother's ability to phase. _Stand pat,_ she thought. _Wait this out._ If she could wait long enough for them to lower their guard...

"You knocked over a cannister in the bunker," the big man growled. The shapechanger goggled at him. How did he know that? His eyes said it. He knew her all too well. How would he have known to stalk her in their daughters' apartment? Why would he have wanted to? She'd heard he'd gotten married again, and her eyes flicked to the Jungle Princess, who was hovering close to her ex.

"It's simple," announced Princess Bubblegum. "You lead a team to where you knocked over the containers of uranium, your sentence gets commuted to life in prison." Folding her arms in front of her, Junior retorted, "bullshit!" Nodding at Cherry, she said, "that bitch gets a _pass_, and _I_ get life?! Fuck you! Let it burn! Let this whole place go up!" Abieuwa went reaching for her knife, but Billy stopped her with a word. "Ok," said Billy. "I'll just go fuck Kim and TV up for this." Junior's face snapped around to his. Coldly, he told her, "they're just as fucking guilty. Harboring a fugitive. Aiding a fugitive. I have half-a-hundred reasons of my own for cutting Kim off at the neck as it is."

His face was hard, and the shapechanger knew that he would be as good as his word. The Billy she'd married would die before he broke a promise. New Billy had the power to execute that threat. She'd _felt_ that first-hand. Even without the Quicksilver Curse, he was every bit as dangerous as his dad. "Ok," she said. "I'll take you there. Your sworn word that nothing will happen to my family." "Nothing," Billy agreed. "We'll let the whole thing drop." Bonnie howled protests, but Billy shut her up with a look. "Ok," she muttered. "Free pass for Lady's kids." "Alright," muttered Junior. "Let's do this."

"Mom," asked Bill, "you mind watching her?" He had to finish organizing the expedition. The Ice Queen replied, "sure, honey." The big man got on his way, leaving his mother alone with the murderess. Heading upstairs, the big man went straight to the quarters he shared with Abieuwa and started gathering up the stuff he was going to need. A shadow announced that the unhappy confrontation that had been waiting on him since he'd stormed out had finally arrived. "Hey," he greeted his wife.

Abieuwa threw herself on him, and he knew she was crying even without the feel of her tears on his back. "I'm sorry I raised my voice," he offered. "Don't go," she howled! "Got to," the big man replied. "I'm pregnant," muttered the older woman. Billy stiffened. He'd thought she was putting on a little middle-age weight. "Noemi and Ragnhild too," she sighed. He hadn't seen the others in _weeks_! The big man started cussing. Had they been hiding that? Taking a breath, the tall hero said, "things have to change... Baby, we can't live the lives we lived before. I'm trying to step back from the things I used to do." Abieuwa sighed heavily.

Turning to face her, Billy cupped her face in his hands. "New year, new us, baby," Billy reminded her. "Momma and my dad put their pride away. Let's not play these games anymore." Nodding, the princess sighed heavily, and said, "yes." Muttering curses, she said, "I thought it was my days with the cutron..." "The what," Billy rumbled. "My family... the women all worked the machines... to turn the yellow sand into death-metal," Abieuwa admitted. "It... it's tradition. It goes back centuries. Sometimes... Sometimes there are accidents." Girls came back sterile. Sometimes they died. She'd always thought she was sterile.

"Oreva's family worked around the storehouse...," she said. "I think... I think he might have been exposed... There was once a fissure on the southeast corner. He was involved in sealing it when he was a young man." Oreva had gotten sick, but he'd ultimately recovered. Shaking herself, the princess, rumbled, "you have to be careful..." Blushing, the big man said, "it's not like I want to get my 'nads zapped, but baby, I've _got_ kids." He had ten kids–eleven with Anders. There was a real likelihood he had a twelfth with Hamest. He wasn't afraid of being sterile. He was afraid of all the consequences of the bunker going boom. Pulling his wife to him, the big man held her tight, whispering, "got a plan, baby. I'll be fine."

Down in the dungeon, Jake Junior could scarcely believe her luck. Left alone with her dopey aunt. With Billy seemingly long gone, the shapechanger began probing the walls. She'd been down in the bunker, and it had taken all the power and cunning she had to not end up croaking. The radiation was powerful, especially deeper down where the really potent stuff was. She'd had to go down ten levels–and back in time several centuries–to get material strong enough for a bomb, and honestly she feared, even with her alien physiology, she'd taken years off her life. She wasn't going back. She'd save her daughters, if she could, but she was getting out of _here_.

"What do you think you're doing," Simone asked? "Getting out of here," Junior replied. "If you try to stop me..." The sorceress's eyes blazed with a pale, white fire, and the shapechanger found herself hemmed in by massive walls of glacial ice, leaving her crushed into a tiny space. In a strangely melodious voice sounding suspiciously like a chorus all speaking at once, the Ice Queen said, "we permitted you to marry our firstborn, Jacob. You repaid us with treachery..." The walls got thicker with each word she spoke, leaving the shapechanger in a state of utter terror. Thin as she could make herself, there was no way to survive _this_.

"Simone," Cherry shouted!

The ice stopped moving. There was little space left inside that steel cage. "Is my son ready to go," Simone asked? Cherry took her hand, saying, "we still need her." Shaking off whatever had been afflicting her, the Ice Queen banished the ice imprisoning her idiot 'daughter-in-law'. Cherry turned a glare on the shapechanger. Some things never changed. "It's time to go," she announced. "The team is ready. You can go willing, Junior..." The alternative was there in Simone's eyes.

As the trio took the long walk back up to the surface, Cherry murmured, "I don't like it when you access the deeper powers of the Ice Crown... It's dangerous..." "You sound like my mother," Simone retorted. "You've never seen what you look like," Cherry rumbled. Simone's eyes glanced down. Cherry was staring straight ahead. "They don't want to take my body," she rumbled, "if that's what you're thinking. They're helping me keep the crazy at bay." The worst she'd ever experienced was a few ugly dreams, but the Tiara had given her far worse.

There was a truck waiting when they reached the surface. Simone immediately latched a hand on the shapechanger's shoulder. The message was clear. Any attempt to teleport might be met with fatal consequences. In short order, the truck was rolling through the streets. Junior sighed heavily. With no view outside, she was going nowhere. Turning to her former boss, she asked, "so how'd you do it?"

At Cherry's frown, the shapechanger clarified, "figured you'd be in jail or dead." With a shrug, Cherry replied, "I'm Mafia Princess..." Jake Junior goggled at her. "While you were hiding, the Thief King tried to kill the world by letting the Lich out and helping him acquire weapons," Cherry explained. It had been all hands on deck to put the Lich down once more. The rest was pretty easy to guess. Between being a named princess and helping fight the Lich, Cherry was sitting in a good spot. She was untouchable. "Guess I missed a lot," Junior grumbled. "I missed my grand-daughters growing up," Simone retorted, reminding the shapechanger of the terrifying confrontation in the dungeon. Junior shut up then, and silence held sway until the truck finally stopped. It appeared that she was going back into the bunker, whether she wanted to or not.

**Secrets. Secrets. All the wives are keeping secrets.**


	39. Chapter 39

Chapter 39:

The bunker loomed over the scene as Jake Junior stepped out of the back of the truck. The pack of eggheads was present, running around in a frenzy, taking readings and shouting at each other. Nearer to hand, Fionna was closeted with the curvy Grid-Face Princess, chatting as if the two had anything in common. Further away, Billy stood talking to the plump elemental girl. The shapechanger felt a momentary pang of loss, as memories came flooding back. Sitting in Billy's lap, discussing baby-names. Billy slipping the ring on her finger. She'd pawned that ring, years ago. Some other girl was wearing it now. Two months of Billy's salary had stretched just far enough to buy her passage across the sea.

Across the square, Billy watched with an unhappy expression on his face, as Olesia chugged the antidote for the drugs she took. It was an ugly reminder of the sacrifices she made to continue their mad little affair. "It'll take a while for me to get my strength back," Olesia murmured. Her eyes said it. He shouldn't worry about this. There was nothing to it. Swallowing his worry, the big man said, "we'll be heading in soon." He wanted to hug her, but that was out of the question right now. Turning away, the Ice Prince went striding across towards his sister. She was the other piece of the puzzle that would make this work without them getting fried.

As the big man crossed to his sister, Princess Nadia concluded her conversation with Fi and walked away. Jake Junior walked up to her former sister-in-law. "Funny watching you talking to that egghead," chuckled the shapechanger. "The dumbest person in the room talking to the smartest, like you have anything to say to her." Far from getting upset as she might have in the past, Fionna chuckled right alongside her former 'in-law', which was some kind of weird to Jake Junior.

With a conspiratorial wink, Fionna announced, "we were discussing methods for providing sufficient electrical capacity to her portable forcefield generator..." The shapechanger goggled at her as if she couldn't have heard that, but the tall blonde wasn't done by half. "It's a facade," Fionna explained. "You should be familiar with that, Jacob Rainicorn Junior. I project a facade of immaturity and cognitive deficiency like your facade of innocence and congeniality. It helps my family cope with the unpleasant reality of my current circumstances. "

The double-take she got from the shapechanger was laugh-out-loud funny to Fionna. Billy settled a hand on his sister's shoulder, as if to say, 'that's enough'. Fi gave him a sunny smile that came close to killing him. Current circumstances. There were days he wanted to beat Patrick to a pulp. In the now, Fi's _current circumstances_ were a help. "Did you study Nadia's forcefield gadget, like I asked," Billy queried? "Yeah," she said. "I can support its energy needs with your girlfriend's help." Billy sighed heavily. He was going to turn his lady into a living battery. It made him want to wring JJ's scrawny neck. She'd caused this mess.

"We're going in," Billy said, nodding at the bunker entry. The shaman who was responsible for the bunker was standing by to recite the words that would cause the machines to open it. He was Oreva's uncle, and the latest in a long line of men to hold that title. Oreva might have inherited it himself if he'd been able to have male heirs to pass the job on to. "We won't have time to screw around," Billy said. "You'll take us straight to where you caused the problem or so help me..."

Folding her arms, Jake Junior glared at him. He was treating her like she was a monster! He was treating her like she was spit, and she wasn't having it! "You ought to be thankful," muttered JJ. Billy glared at her. Waving her hands flippantly, she said, "who do you _think_ called our family to tell them what happened to you?" Billy's head snapped around. "Yeah," she said. "I was there on the square when that guy bashed you in the head. I watched that bitch dose you with whatever that stuff was. I called our peeps to let them know you were in trouble."

As the last words left her lips, the final piece of the puzzle fell into place. She'd been there on the square. Watching and listening. That was how she'd gotten the code to open the bunker. He saw it now. Jake had a memory for little details like that–the mind and memory of a thief. The realization that she'd been there to steal the grand secret on a day that had been as momentous for the world as it had been for Billy's life made the big man angry. The fact that she wanted to crow about it enraged him.

The Ice Prince glared at her and growled, "I should be grateful that my daughter is shaking her ass for a bunch of losers in a bar to earn money? I should be glad another daughter is risking her life in a murderously dangerous jungle? I should be glad my third kid is dabbling in the same dumb shit her momma did?" Jake Junior's mouth snapped shut. Pointedly, Olesia said, "we have work to do. Let's be about it." She'd seen the looming confrontation and come rushing over to shut the whole thing down. She'd heard the stories about this woman. Now she could see just how true those stories were.

Billy hefted one of the two portable generators. Fionna hefted the second. "Lead on," growled Billy. With a sigh, Jake Junior turned and started walking. Her big score was turning out to be her worst move ever. Shaking her head and muttering curses, the shapechanger crossed the space to the bunker's front door. She'd opened that door with the secret code the idiots who ran this place had so carelessly revealed to her. Of course, honestly, they sort of had a point. Who'd be dumb enough to go inside? Who but a half-alien monster?

The shaman stepped forward to meet them at the door. "Your Highness," he rumbled. "No man has gone inside in six-hundred years..." Nodding at his ex-wife, Billy said, "she has. There might be others who'll try. Guard the secret chant, Uncle." The withered older man stared at him a moment. And then his eyes fell on the stranger. His eyes said it. He'd seen this creature before. "Aye, my son," said the shaman. "I will at that." The two men clasped hands.

Striding over to what Billy imagined was a long-hidden interface terminal, the shaman began to speak in his strange, sing-song voice–pitched lower this time. Billy didn't imagine there were too many more who could go into the bunker, but it didn't hurt to be more careful. As the shaman's chant reached its crescendo, the door slowly slid open, revealing a terrifying electric-blue glow. The Geiger counter on Billy's belt immediately began to crackle. That noise would come to haunt his sleep in the weeks and months to come.

"Fi," he murmured, "O?" His sister and his girlfriend stepped forward. Horns of pinkish crystal sprouted from the gadget on Fi's back. Olesia grasped the horns. And then a bubble of mushy energy formed around them. Billy began walking, pushing a reluctant Jake Junior before him. Almost before they were completely inside, the door began to seal behind them.

Out on the sea, north and east of the Jungle Kingdom, Bronwyn lay awake listening to her grand-uncle–at least the man she used to think of that way–screwing his latest plaything. It was a strange sort of thing to her. Men of wealth who were Finn's age typically chased much younger women–women _Bronwyn's_ age. Finn could most frequently be found in bed with women who were charitably described as 'mature'. At the same time, the weird dichotomy was emblematic of Bronwyn's current circumstances.

Her father–the man she'd loved with all her heart from the time she could walk–was a dirty liar and traitor. She'd forgiven the cheating, brushing it under the rug and blaming it on the women. She'd forgiven some of the shadier business deals. She'd played a part in some of them, sometimes acting as a go-between to hide her father's involvement. She'd never in her life have imagined her father would throw his lot in with people who wanted to hold the whole world hostage. She'd heard bits and pieces of it–the truth of what was going on. The spy talked of... things... with Finn. At least she talked when she wasn't screaming. Her father's ships had moved key materials from a shadowport–the very shadowport they were sailing towards–and taken them over the sea to Coca Kingdom. There were rumblings that the Bandit Princess had attempted to build a terrible weapon there. She'd failed, but that didn't excuse TRR's involvement in the mess.

As the woman in the next room soared towards another shrieking climax, Bronwyn found herself sinking towards the depths of despair with guilt threatening to overwhelm her. She felt responsible for some of this. She'd helped her father build the vast fortune that he was using to put the world at risk. She'd help to hide the dirty deals that might have seen him punished. She'd played her part in the tax-cheating and shell-games. All so her father, who talked of his high-minded morality, could cheat on his wife, cheat on his responsibilities to his neighbors, and put the world at risk.

In the next room, Orzsebet collapsed atop the King, in a sweaty, _exhausted_ heap. She was out like a light without so much as a word. For Bronwyn, sleep was a long time in coming. She had to fix this. People's lives were at stake. She'd let hundreds, maybe _thousands_ of possible bandits into the civilized kingdoms. Her father's will. Maybe he didn't know, but he should have. There were plenty of cheap employees he could have found in other places. It made no sense to bring them from outside the Wall, when you could find loose men all over the Bandit Kingdoms and Broken Lands. They could have had their _pick_ of Elbownians, and those people would have been glad for the work.

She saw it now, as she hadn't seen it then. Her father's orders made no sense at all, when there were plenty of displaced people in need of work. He could have gotten a commendation from the Royals for solving their problem–maybe even earned his way into their pockets. Truth? Her father had been in somebody else's pocket already. _You were blind,_ she thought. _Why were you so blind?_ No answer came, and the plush puppy continued to toss and turn as the ship churned through the sea, bound for the latest example of her father's failings.

Back in the Jungle Kingdom, the team in the bunker hit their first snag in the stairwell down to the lower reaches of the bunker. Standing in the hideous blue glare of the radioactive material, the quartet stood staring down at a massive obstacle. The stairs had collapsed. It was apparent that the failure had likely happened _centuries_ ago, and Billy found himself thinking of the earthquakes that infrequently struck Abieuwa's domain. The bunker wasn't safe. They were going to have to take steps to empty it. He was certain of that. He feared the possibility of worse damage. In the right now, he had a bit of a problem.

"It's blocked," Billy rumbled. "Yup," Junior retorted, "I had to stretch myself down." The big man glared at her. "Why didn't you tell us that," Billy growled? "You weren't going to listen anyway," she replied. Billy cussed her. Clearing her throat, Olesia said, "we need to figure out how to get down, darling." She was right. Standing here blessing-out his ex wasn't going to get them through this. They were wasting time.

Back on the surface, Simone Petrikov-Mertens looked up from dishing out tea and snacks for the soldiers on duty at the bunker entrance to find a ghost standing there. "Cherry," murmured the Ice Queen. The gangster glanced up. Moments later, she was alone at the table. Simone was walking towards the pretty half-human that stood there on the square, staring at all the activity with the eyes of a lost soul.

"Hello," Simone greeted her namesake. The dog-woman stared at her. Simone immediately took the young girl's arm and steered her towards the benches behind the refreshment stand. Bonnie and Blargetha were both fast asleep there–worn down to nothing by the stress of the crisis. Nadia and Sarah were grinding away with the efficiency of living machines while an exhausted Bon did his best to keep up. Their plan, in spite of Billy's wishes, was for a set of machines to push through the bunker to the source of the trouble and forcibly pull the nuclear materials out of contact. Striding past them, Simone took her grand-daughter by the arm and steered her to a seat before fetching her a cup of tea.

She could see how Billy had so quickly recognized what–and _who_–he was looking at. It was all there. She even _dressed_ like Simone. She didn't know it, but she was dressed like the woman she'd been named for–in a place that clearly wasn't suited for clothing like this. "Never thought I'd meet you in this life," the Ice Queen murmured, as she sat down beside Billy's oldest child.

"I thought she made you up," rumbled the hybrid. "Everything she ever said to us was a lie. She lied all the time, and I thought she just made everything up about who our father was." Her expression was bleak, and Simone could see the pain there as her grand-daughter turned to look at her. Just like that, the tears were falling like rain, venting the pain of abandonment. Like the mother and grandmother she was, Simone slipped her arms around the strange young woman and hugged her, whispering, "we're a big family with lots of love to give. Welcome home."

Back in the bunker, Billy and Fi had gone off with the second forcefield generator to see if they could find a second stairwell, leaving Olesia alone with the problem. Sitting on the floor, her hands grasping the crystalline power-generation devices Fionna created, the elemental's focus was on the job at hand, even though she seethed with worry. There was a great deal worrying her now. It was everything from the danger to the people of Jungle Kingdom, to the risk of devastating the breadbasket of Ooo, to more esoteric worries about Billy's fertility in this hellscape. But she made all of those worries a certainty if she failed in her twin duties of the moment. She had to keep her eyes on the unhappy murderess and keep the portable forcefield machine running all at the same time, while the prickly shapechanger did all she could to pick at the younger woman.

"So you're his new girlfriend," the shapechanger announced.

It was out of the blue and came out as a statement more than a question, and it practically _dripped_ contempt. Coming on the heels of all the other ugly things she'd said, it immediately set Olesia on edge. In measured tones, the young princess responded, "if you like..." "You don't look like his type," she replied. She had her hands up, measuring out a silhouette. It was the usual. Olesia had just been called a fatty. Billy called her curvy, and he'd repeatedly stated that he loved her shape. Blowing a strand of her burning hair out of her eyes, the plush pretty rolled her eyes and said, "I've been called fat by people far more clever than _you_. I am, in fact, a princess of the Okonski bloodline, with more to offer a prince than a sneak-thief."

"You're a fucking _whore_ who's fucking my husband," growled Junior. Olesia tutted, "_mistress_. The proper term is _mistress_. A prince may have mistresses, just as he may have _mistakes_." It took only a moment for the shapechanger to realize just what it was that the elemental had just called her. It was just a moment after that Junior tried to claw her rival in the face, ending up drawing back a burned and injured hand. Coldly, the elemental asked, "learned your lesson, bitch? You'd be first-wife if you'd learned to curb your... _impulses_. Instead, the world moved on without you."

Footsteps–and the racket of Geiger counters–announced the return of the siblings. Olesia climbed to her feet, carefully hefting the forcefield machine as Billy carefully merged the two fields once more. When Fionna was ready, the plump woman helped her wrestle the machine back onto her back. They were safer now. "What're we doing," Olesia asked, distracting Billy from looking at his ex? "Something dangerous," the Ice Prince muttered. "I'll build us stairs," Fionna said. Which comment made Junior howl laughter.

In chill tones, Fionna said, "I will cause silica crystals to leach from the floor and walls of the shaft, forming crystalline stairs, but it will weaken the structure of the cement, doing irreparable damage to the structure of the bunker. I'll do my best to contain the damage, but it will shorten the remaining lifespan of the structure. There's no way to prevent it." While Junior stared, Olesia asked, "how will we avoid having to do this again?" "I intend to empty the bunker, O," Billy rumbled. "There's no choice now. It has to be done. This can't be allowed to remain. C'mon. Let's get at it. We're running out of time."

Entering the stairwell once more, Fionna stepped forward, with Olesia coming up alongside her. "Gimme your hand, cowhips," the Bad Bunny rumbled. The nasty comment deflected the elemental from arguing. So startled was she by the change in tone that she simply complied. She could feel the strange crystal there in Fionna's hand.

And then she felt the drain.

It was immediate, strong, and almost painful. Olesia had barely been holding her own against the drain of the forcefield machine. She'd dissembled a little with Billy, swearing that she was going to be fine. She wasn't. She was weak. She'd been on the sleepers for _weeks_, enjoying the pleasures of having a boyfriend. It wasn't something you could just walk away from. "Just a little longer," Fionna promised. It was as if she knew...

Before Jake Junior's shocked face, stairs of pale yellow and grey crystal thrust outward from the walls of the stairwell. At the same time, a massive pillar of crystal thrust upwards from below, emerging from the diabolic blue glow to finally stop just a few feet away. As the quartet watched, the crystalline stairs joined in with the pillar, forming a structure that, while slick and treacherous, was safer than the crumbling stairs. Billy would have stepped off, but Junior stopped him. "I can catch myself," she reminded him. It was the second biggest shock of the night.

It was slow going getting down the stairs, and a worried Billy found himself staring back at Olesia now and again. The forcefield was weaker. He could tell it was getting weaker. Olesia was getting weaker. It was the drugs. She'd lied to him about the drugs. But what was he going to say to that? She was sacrificing herself for others once more. Thinking about Marysia's antics, it was hard to reconcile the pair as sisters because they were nothing like each other. _Hold on, baby,_ he thought. It became almost like a litany in his mind. "Ten floors down," the shapechanger announced. "I had to go ten floors down..." Because the material higher up in the bunker wasn't potent enough. Ten floors was a long, _long_ way when each floor was a hundred feet high. Olesia was struggling, and they still had a long way to go.

Taking that journey was like taking a trip back into the mists of time. Other than JJ, no living creature had been this far into the bunker since its construction. Signs on the walls in a forgotten tongue spoke of past, reminding Billy of the ancient nations his grandfather talked about. Graffiti told of the men and women who'd built this place–men feuding with each other. Men dissing women that they disliked and women doing the same. It would have been a fantastic place to study if they weren't in terror of their lives and of the greater destruction this place might cause.

The quartet emerged on the tenth floor below ground level–a thousand feet under the earth. Olesia was sweating, and their protective bubble was already noticeably smaller than when they'd started. This was the end of the line. "Third room on the left," Junior declared. "Ok," Billy said. "Tell me again... How did you do it?" "The rooms, as you saw, have pools of water in them," Junior replied. "The ones upstairs are full of big lead jars... The ones down here... dunno why, but they're full of long rods of the stuff. They're twelve feet long." She'd been exhausted from getting beat up by the radiation, and it had been all she could manage to grab a tube and get out. She'd knocked over one of the racks in the pool in the process. There had been a bright flash of light and a lot of pain from the blast.

_Criticality excursion, Bill,_ thought the Ice Prince. She could have blown the whole fucking place up. There was added urgency in his mind now to empty this place. It _all_ had to get moved out. "Ok," he said. "I'm'a take one of the forcefields and see if I can get up close and take a look in that room. Sit tight." The big man left them there at the stairs, edging down the vast hall until he was almost even with the door. The heat from the machine on his back told him just how dangerous things were. Reaching deep inside himself, the big man touched the deeper powers of the Ice Tiara, risking madness to conjure ice where no ice could possibly form. Conjuring a small mirror, the big man took a gander at what he was dealing with.

It was just as JJ had said. The pool was filled from end to end with rack upon rack upon rack of fuel rods. Whoever had built this place in the dim, distant past had likely not intended to make so much fuel. Abieuwa's people had continued to uranium fuel long after there was no need to refine it. The automated machinery had probably shuffled and shifted the fuel around to deal with the never-ending supply. _I hope Nadia and Bonnie can come up with some way to store this stuff until we can get rid of it,_ thought Billy. It couldn't stay here. The current problem was how did he get the rack of fuel rods back upright without help and without knocking over more rods. Some of them even appeared to be melted.

Footsteps announced that the others had decided to follow him. "We're running out of time," Fionna announced. Billy glanced to Olesia. His lady gave him a wan smile. She was barely hanging on. He could see it. "How bad is it," Junior asked? "Bad," Billy replied. "I think some of the rods are melted together. "Wish Bronwyn was here," Jake Junior sighed, "or Charlie. They could teleport this mess somewhere else..." Taking a breath, Billy said, "last stand of the Mertens Clan..." Junior's face whipped up. "Gotta' fix it, JJ," he said. "Even if it kills us."

Turning to his sister and girlfriend, the big man said, "we're gonna' get one shot at this. O? How good are you with controlling your powers?" "Middling," she replied. "What's your idea?" "I'm going to suck heat out of the melted rods and bring them to a temperature where they're solid again. Fi's going to go in with one of the generators and stabilize the structure of the metal. Then you're going to heat them up enough to separate. JJ's gonna' force them apart with her stretchy-powers." It was a good plan. It was also going to take their remaining strength to accomplish. They weren't going to get out of here. Olesia moved in and kissed him on the cheek. It said something about how weak she'd become that it was no worse than a too-hot shower.

With the matter decided, the quartet moved into the room to get busy. With Olesia no longer maintaining them, the two forcefield generators began squawking immediately. Their batteries were running down. Fast. Minutes, Nadia had said. They had just minutes. Billy focused his will best he was able with the terror of the moment on him. Strangely enough, the Tiara helped. Maybe the evil entity wanted its host to live. Who knew. It didn't matter. The Tiara helped him focus, almost guiding his hands as he chilled the temperature of the fuel rods to nominal. Billy cast the energy gained to Olesia, even as Fionna grabbed for Jake Junior's shoulder.

"Need your emotions," Fi said. "I don't have the emotional energy to make this work..." It was an artifact of the change. She no longer _felt_ as deeply as she once had. Siphoning off some of the shapechanger's boundless evil energy, the glass witch focused her will into the metal of the control rods, forcing crystals apart that had become married to each other over the weeks since the theft. "Now, cowhips," said Fionna. Olesia channeled her last reserves of energy into remelting a tiny section of the conjoined rods. Reaching out with her hands, Jake Junior wrestled the heavy rods apart.

The pain... was tremendous. It was like having an ocean of fine glass rubbed across every inch of her flesh. She'd felt it before when she'd come here, and she'd vowed never to go through this again. The agony seemed to go on forever. But then Billy and Fionna were dragging her back through the doorway of the doomsday room. It took a full minute for her to get control of her limbs back. The forcefield machines were giving up their last. Billy drew Olesia into his lap and held her. This wasn't how he wanted to go. He wanted to see his kids again. He wanted to see his three newest kids get born. He wanted to connect with Simone, Liz, and Lady.

"How much do you trust me," Junior announced? Billy glanced up at his ex with a frown of puzzlement. "You have to live," Junior insisted. "Our kids will be alone." That made Fionna chuckle for some reason. "You were right," Junior admitted. "I... was a bad mom. I guess I got it honest, because I did all the shit my dad did."

She'd run short of patience with raising her kids _fast_. Liz had driven her up the wall by sneaking out of the house. She'd gotten in deep, hanging out with the wrong crowd and getting into trouble with gangs. Lady's problem had been her endless attempts to run off and see the world. She'd been rescued from the terrors of the jungle on a dozen occasions, bringing a massive hit to Junior's pocket with each rescue by the Jungle Guard. The only one of the girls who wasn't raising hell was Simone. Naturally. Just like her grandmother, Simone II was almost saintly by comparison to the other two. Her only real fault was her hunger to bang whatever handsome dude she saw. Billy flushed at that exposition. His daughter was like her namesake in more than looks. "I failed," Junior sighed. "I wish... I wish I'd found a way to get them home to you because I couldn't take care of them. That's why you have to live. You have to fix it..."

Billy glanced at the space around them, his eyes telling the tale. There was no way to climb a thousand feet to the surface through an ocean of deadly radiation with no forcefield machines to protect them. They were going to die down here. "I can teleport us out," Junior insisted. "It's not my strongest power, but I did it before. I pulled an entire fuel rod out of here. That's... that's more weight than the four of us." She'd also landed hard, breaking her arm and four ribs. "Better than nothing," said Fi. "I'm in."

Billy, Fionna, and Olesia took hold of the shapechanger's hands. Jake Junior took a deep breath and let it go. The machines were beeping... counting down the moments until death. Another breath, as she found her center and searched out the right window in time. One more breath, as the machines finally gave up the ghost.

Four bodies came tumbling out of the sky above the square to screams of shock and terror. The four figures landed with dull, heavy thuds and lay still.

**How was that for action?**


	40. Chapter 40

Chapter 40:

They didn't exactly _cuddle_. Most often, she woke to find him sitting at the hotel suite's little table, working. She _entertained_ Finn with her body. It was honestly the most sex she'd had in years. When she'd been appointed to leadership of the Committee at the ripe age of sixteen, she'd gotten a _lot_ of fucking. That was the romanticized image of a secret agent. Steal the secret documents, screw the helpful patsy, ride into the sunset. The reality for Orzsebet had been a whole lot of wham-bam, thank-you, ma'am–except mostly without the thank-you because she was usually long gone. Rare was the man who really got her off.

Finn took his time. There were moments it felt like he was _enjoying_ a fine wine or steak. He had no emotional attachment to her. She was still a piece of meat, but he savored her body like something rich and expensive. On her side, it was the most orgasms she'd ever had in her life. When he was going at her, he would take her to the limits. When you added in her domination fetish, there were moments she feared he would fuck her to death.

Rising from the bed today, she stretched for a moment. She was sore, but at least she wasn't walking bow-legged like that first time. A part of her thought those bitches had to fob him off on each other or risk getting _wrecked_. Far from sneaking an illicit piece, Orzsebet was doing them a _favor_. Checking her watch, she realized that she'd slept too long. She was running late.

It was Bronwyn sitting at the table, when Princess Orzsebet emerged from Finn's bedroom, shuffling along like an old woman. The look of that made the younger woman want to laugh, and it made Finn's lust for her all the more incongruous to the half-bear. The skinny spy turned a glare on the little rich girl and growled, "what're you smirking about?" With a shrug, Bronwyn rumbled, "you. I hardly see what he sees in you. You're not his type." "You know nothing," Orzsebet snarled. "I know we're late," Bronwyn replied. "My grand-uncle will be back soon..." Gritting her teeth, the Agent Princess turned and strode off, bound for the tiny bathroom.

Hundreds of miles to the east, the King's son lay in repose, dreaming of better times. It was a familiar dream. He was on the beach with his daughters and wife, playing beach volleyball, with JJ cheating as always. The dream was a bitter one because he _knew_ the dream was dead. His wife and children were all gone–victims of JJ's lies. Today, he went all out, using his own powers to balance the scales until he and the daughters on his side of the game actually won.

As JJ was surrendering, something warm woke Billy, and his eyes popped open to find Olesia sitting there at his side, wearing a silvery grey dress, her left arm in a sling. "Baby," he howled, as he sat up and embraced her. The big man buried his face in her hair, gripping her hard enough to hurt. Moments later, she was in tears–a full-fledged meltdown. Ignoring the pain from his girl's scalding tears, the big man pulled her lush lips to his and kissed her as if it was the first time. "I'm ok," she sniffled. Pulling free, she stepped back, saying, "I'm... not fully in control at the moment." The radiation had affected her just as much as everybody else. She was now on heavy doses of the sleepers to prevent her basically taking a trip to the center of the planet.

"Did it work," he asked? Nodding, Olesia replied, "readings are returning to normal. Princess Nadia believes that the fuel rods we shifted would have melted together and formed a critical mass. It would likely have melted through the floor of the pool and emptied the cooling water. It might even have compromised the cooling system for the entire floor." They would have had multiple pools melting down as the fuel rods within all began to overheat.

Sitting up, Billy asked, "am I ok to get up?" Olesia nodded. "Drew cleared you today," she said. "You've been in an induced coma under observation for two weeks." Billy's jaw came open. With a smile, the plump pretty raised her broken arm and said, "we were kind of a mess, darling. We didn't get fried, but we did take doses of radiation. Junior and I got it the worst." They'd been outside the forcefield bubbles the most. "Is JJ...," Billy started to say? Much as there had been moments he'd honestly _hated_ her the last few years, he didn't want her dead. "She's going to be ok," Olesia confirmed. "She's under observation. Drew was a little concerned that she'd been in there twice. They're talking about breaking her arm again and pinning it. It didn't heal correctly." With a smile, the plump girl said, "she's behaving. They'll be transferring her to your father's prison. In the now... there's something you need to see. Get dressed. I'll see you outside in the garden."

The plump girl turned to go, and he watched that beautiful, _bountiful_ butt go wig-wagging across the room. Bad memories came flooding back of the ugly after-effects of the medications. _You've been enjoying this, when you really should be discouraging it,_ he thought. At the same time, he couldn't imagine his life without her presence in it. Shaking himself, the big man got up and rushed for the shower, finding Olesia had taken the risk of turning it on for him–another reminder of the place she held in his heart. She was helping him stay afloat, but when he thought of what those pills could be doing to her, he was torn. A part of him would have sent her away.

Pulling on some clothes, he forced his mind away from his personal problems. There were a lot of things to get done before this crisis was truly solved. Some of that would see him fighting Abieuwa. It was past time to change course. The Royal Science Academy would be investigating the bunker–every corner from the cooling system that prevented meltdowns to the structure of the walls, roof and floors. It was what his father would have done if he'd been here.

His wife fell in at his side as he approached the garden. She looked _worn_. She'd clearly been crying. A lot. She was also clearly too prideful to admit to needing him. "I'm pleased to see you well," Abieuwa announced. The Ice Prince seized her hand, twining his fingers in hers. "I have to hurt you," he said. "I'm forced by my position to do something hurtful. The death-metal in the treasury is your great legacy, and I will always respect that. It's also a danger to all life on Ooo. We have a duty to be good custodians of that legacy. That means insuring against the risk of another cataclysm. Our world needs an honest accounting. Can you do that, baby?" Choking back a sob, the proud princess nodded. Billy squeezed her hand before going out the door into the garden.

Outside, he found Olesia, Cherry, and his mom waiting alongside Simone II and two figures he'd never seen before. His mind put the puzzle pieces in place. The tall, curvy girl in the tight booty-shorts with her short n'sassy reddish-brown hair and short, bushy tail was Liz. She had her momma's crooked smile and a mischievous glint in her brown eyes. Lady II was thin with lean legs, more modest knockers, pastel blue, red, and yellow coloration, long blonde hair and tail, and a tiny knub of a horn at the edge of her forehead. As Olesia, Abieuwa, and his mom looked on with pride, Billy rushed forward and embraced his long-lost daughters. The big man cried. He cried the tears of an anguished father. In short order, the young ladies were crying just as hard and hugging their father for all they were worth.

Back in the shadowport, Bronwyn watched Finn's idiot spy as she shuffled along up the street. Her destination was a heavily fortified warehouse. They had been here repeatedly the last few days, slowly mapping out the interior–a space the occupants were anxious to keep secret. There was a trick involved–one Bronwyn imagined Finn would be uncomfortable with. Bronwyn could teleport significant distances, provided she'd seen the destination in person. With Finn's insipid spymaster acting as a distraction, Bronwyn had been able to repeatedly enter the space, first by teleporting into the hall behind the front door and later by exploiting memories of what she'd seen to teleport into empty or unused rooms deeper in the warehouse.

The half-bear had mapped almost the entire main floor. She suspected someone important was in the top floor suite. Trouble was, that space was heavily guarded. Bronwyn had been afraid to get near it. While the guards near the front were bored and even _lazy_, those deeper in the warehouse were vigilant to the point of paranoia. That left the cellar. They knew the basement existed. They had plans showing their existence. What they didn't know were the changes made. That was today's plan.

Orzsebet the agent princess moved in with the cart she was pushing, setting it up near the door. That had nearly earned her a beating three days ago. One of the paranoid thugs from inside the warehouse had taken extreme issue with the antics of his fellows. Nobody was supposed to be near the door. Orzsebet had taken that abuse with aplomb that Bronwyn could never have managed. She'd almost intervened, but Orzsebet had waved her off. The threatened thrashing hadn't arrived, but it had let Bronwyn get the deepest into the warehouse she'd managed so far.

Today there was no beating on offer. The spy-girl set up her stand and began hawking her wares, selling meat-stew to hungry locals–including the occupants of the warehouse. Indeed, as Bronwyn watched, a stream of men came out of the squat building to get their share. It was time. Finding her center, the plush half-bear reached out, searching for the appropriate window in time. Then she stepped _through_.

She found herself in a darkened corner of the warehouse. It was a little disconcerting to find that someone had shoved a crate into the space she'd appeared in. That could have been fatal. The crate hadn't been here before. They should move soon. If they were going to move on this place, it needed to be soon, or she wouldn't be able to help. If these guys were going to be moving boxes around like this, she would quickly lose her ability to safely enter.

Stepping out of the corner, she listened carefully for the sound of patrols before moving out into the aisle. The stairs down to the cellars were near. Gliding along, the tall she-bear glanced this way and that, her senses already focused on the escape window–just in case. Arriving at the head of the stairs, Bronwyn crouched down and listened. Nothing. There was nothing coming from below. Stepping off, she slipped down the stairs, step by step, sifting the air with her sensitive nose.

Her mind went to her grand-uncle as thoughts came to her unbidden. She'd asked. Somebody had to have washed her. She'd been locked in a box for weeks. Somebody would have had to wash her. Was it really any surprise that somebody was Finn? Ironically, she knew her father wouldn't have done it. He'd have simply ordered somebody from his pack of servants to do the unpleasant job of caring for his incapacitated relative. The big man never said a word about it. Her father would have _crowed_. Someday she was going to repay Finn.

In the right now, she could smell something. Slipping down the dank corridor, she could smell the scent of humanoid scat. It was a nightmarish scent that wanted to remind her of her captivity, though she'd honestly been unconscious the whole way through. The rough outlines of doors around her told her she was in a makeshift prison. Staler scents told that this space had routinely been used to house these people's victims, but there was a fresher, stronger scent dead ahead of her.

As she approached the cell, sounds of voices at the top of the stairs startled her. She was reaching for her powers, steering for the window as quick as that. In the blink of an eye, the lush half-bear was blinking her eyes against the brilliant light of the sun in an open park a half-mile from the awful prison beneath the warehouse. Shaking off her fear, the plump woman stepped off as if she'd been there the whole time.

Finn returned to the quarters he shared with his spymaster and Kim's daughter, finding Orzsebet out of bed and sitting at the table and Bronwyn sitting opposite her. That was a little curious. The two did not get along, barely tolerating each other's company. Bronwyn, in point of fact, frequently sniped at Orzsebet, and she'd made it clear she was irritated by the noise of rowdy sex from Finn's room.

Slipping into the chair on the other side of the table, Finn threw a piece of paper on the table. "She's there," he said. He'd been investigating the hotspring on the far side of town. It had been bought out by a bunch of dudes out of Truth Kingdom, who'd set up a bathing-spring like their homeland. It was an odd sort of business for a place like this. "Are you sure," Orzsebet growled? Bronwyn took the piece of paper and unfolded it. Nodding at the girl, the Lady of Spies said, "we think we found your missing Queen... under that warehouse."

It was Finn's turn to frown. The place was crawling with guards, which made it a natural place to conceal a kidnap victim or victims. At the same time, they didn't have an army to breech the walls, and Finn had vetoed the idea of trying to burgle the place to see what was inside. He didn't want to risk Breezy's life, now they were so close. He also didn't want to walk into a trap in there and get jammed up. Reasoning that they were going to try moving Breezy to wherever the Bandit Princess was, he'd wanted to stake the place out and jump the bandits when they went to move their victim–just like they'd done it with Bronwyn.

Now his eyes flicked to Kim's daughter. Bronwyn's powers would have let her get into the warehouse without alerting the enemy. That would also have put her at severe risk for teleporting into a wall or something. "You shouldn't go," Bronwyn said, as she put the paper down. Now Orzsebet snatched the piece of paper off the table, snapping it open once more. "You disobeyed me," Finn growled. "It needed to be done," Bronwyn replied. "The risk was small." "Have you lost your mind," Orzsebet snarled?! She shook the paper in his face.

"It's a move from the other side, this time," Finn replied, as he pushed the paper aside. "She's asking to meet with us." Specifically, she was asking to meet _him_. "I don't agree with this," Orzsebet rumbled. "It's clearly a trap." "It's a hotspring," Finn replied, "not one of her crooked gambling dens. It's out in the open. Your guys can stand watch." The Lady of Spies cussed him. "You're going to finish the job," he said. Orzsebet stopped in mid rant. Both women stared at him. "Since you've already violated my orders, you can take the last few steps," he said. "She'll be distracted. Even if it is a trap, she and her dudes will be on the far side of town. You should have better access. Get me a good look at the inside. Find the room. We'll move then."

He was of a mind to shut things down and get home. With the Wall finally in a state that could be called 'finished', the peanuts out of business, and the Civilized Kingdoms back under a state of peace, he could safely look outwards. He could turn some of the day-to-day business of running down problems over to Bill and Fi. He'd been thinking a lot about that. With the border secure, Bonnie's peeps could get back to Cocoa City. That would make a nice base of operations for Fi to do her thing with getting the border under control. She'd have access to people to help her with the kids, while she and Patrick were working. Thinking of a future where he wouldn't be around, he wanted people to see Bill as their new protector. Part of that job involved travel. And... Bill already had a bit of a problem there anyway. He had wives scattered across Ooo, just like Finn.

"I don't like this," Orzsebet muttered. "I have the curse," Finn replied. "I can exit the onsen just like I went in..." It wasn't something he _wanted_ to do. The curse had become very dangerous for him. At the same time, this was a chance to shut this whole business down with the Bandit Princess. He was willing to accept a little risk. "Alright," muttered the Agent Princess, "when are we moving?" "Tonight," Finn replied.

It was nearly ten when the King of Ooo stepped into the hot, moist air in the private section of the hotspring. Orzsebet and Bronwyn were on the far side of town now, preparing to enter the warehouse while its owner was distracted here. A handful of Orzsebet's spies were poised to come rushing to Finn's rescue on the far side of the wall, while a lookout kept watch from the only high-spot with a view of the interior of the spring. He was as set to get through this as he was going to get.

Remembering the first time he'd visited a place like this in Truth Kingdom, Finn found himself inhaling the steamy air of the onsen and remembering. Jake had thought Sakura was setting things up for some fun in the warm waters, but they had both been far too young for that, never-mind the taboos against getting nasty outside of marriage for a princess. Finn had found himself alone with a couple of Sakura's guards, soaking his bones in the heat and trying to ignore the blue balls and boner he'd gone in with. He'd been a little sore about that, honestly, and maybe that was some of why he had been distant from the Truth Field Princess, even when it was his own fault for _assuming_.

The hot-spring smelled vaguely of pine needles. Strangely enough, it reminded him of sex with Emeraude, Marphisa, and Teri. The strange memory/sensation made his face feel warm. _This is the place,_ he thought. Shedding the yukata, the big man stepped down into the pool. The water was just short of too-warm–a lot like the first couple times with Phoebes. This place was activating a lot of memories.

Up on the bluff above the hotspring, the long, slender shape of a blowgun slid out through the leaves of a rat aloe bush. A puff of air, and it was all over. The man laying on the ground staring down at the hotspring grabbed for his throat, then keeled over dead. His murderer keyed the phone stuffed into his belt-pouch, sending a text to his master. The deed was done. She was clear to do business.

While the King of Ooo was wool-gathering, thinking of past dalliances and moments from long ago, _she_ came into view from the women's changing room. Striding into view, hips wig-wagging as she came prancing towards him, she caught and captivated his eyes. Tall, her height somewhat disguised how curvy she was. She had long, muscular legs, toned, muscular arms, and broad shoulders. The strangely twisted and battered fingers of her left hand held a towel up over an impressive set of cans. Her chalk-white skin, and the curling grey-black horns jutting out and curling upwards from either temple marked her as an ogre–an _oni_–as Sakura called her kind.

A smile played about her plush lips, and her green eyes sparkled with humor as she stopped before him. Dipping her toe in the hot, spring-fed water of the pool, the strange woman tested the temperature. Then, without a word, she dropped the towel on the stone paving tiles, baring a hard, washboard stomach beneath a set of gravity-defying knockers that would have made Simone jealous and had Nadia ready to scratch his eyes out for looking.

No sooner had she sat down than a waiter came in, bearing a wooden tray with a pair of cups and a stoppered flask. Setting the tray down, the waiter withdrew. "Ok," said Finn, as the stranger stepped down into the pool with him. "What gives?" Smiling archly, his adversary responded, "we're negotiating on neutral ground, King of Ooo... Do you imagine I'm hiding weapons?" Finn blushed. Unless that ring in her nose was a weapon, the only thing she had were those giant fucking knobs. On his side, he had the Quicksilver Curse–something as deadly to him as to anybody else.

The Bandit Princess nodded at the tray. With a sigh, Finn popped the cork. If she was planning on poisoning him, well, she could take the first sip. Pouring liquor into the two cups, the big man handed one over. The tall woman immediately took a deep draught from the cup. Finn found himself frowning and wondering. He'd heard of people poisoning themselves to get at others. The truth was that the odds of dying were much too high. It didn't fit the MO of somebody who'd been as careful as this woman. Bringing the cup to his lips, the big man took a sip, while he gave his opponent a good looking over.

She was fit–built a lot like Fionna, with hard muscle stretched across her frame. His mind went through the calculation. She was young–maybe in her twenties. He was an old man, pushing on towards fifty. He was bigger and stronger, but she was young and fit enough to do a lot of damage to him. When you added in the fact that she was an ogre and able to muster surges of inhuman strength, she was very dangerous. He'd have to be on his toes. She'd murdered a man in cold blood with her hands.

"I'm Finn," the big man announced, as he set the cup aside. "Peihong," replied his adversary. Sitting up straight, Finn said, "I'm pleased that we could finally meet." Nodding, the stranger replied, "you've been persistent in seeking a meeting. You'll have to forgive my soldiers. It's the nature of power. One can't be too careful." Finn waved that away. He wasn't much interested in talking about the past. His mind was on finding a way out of the conflict.

"Strange idea from a man with the title of Warlord," Peihong replied. "War profits no-one," Finn retorted, "only death." The tall woman gave him a crooked smile. That smile seemed to convey the matchless evil in a heart that was cold as stone. "And what would you offer me in exchange for peace," she asked? Finn frowned at her, his face taking on a stony expression. She imagined he was used to people listening when he told them who he was. But she wasn't one of the insipid bitches who got stars in their eyes at the mention of his name.

Taking a sip from her cup, the ogress opined, "you're a man of _peace_. I'm a woman of ambition. I'd be satisfied with _half_ the world. I'd cede you the west. You give me the east. I'm even willing to sweeten the deal. In exchange for her holdings on the mainland, your girlfriend can keep her islands..." It was such a brazen suggestion, Finn found himself struck speechless for a moment. This bitch literally thought he'd give her half the world–to plunge half the world into darkness.

Crossing her legs artfully, the curvy brunette remarked, "you have lands protected from the outside... lands restored to health with lush fields. You have most of the functioning industry remaining from the time before the bombs. You have your precious eggheads to build you miracles at your whim. The City of Wands is at your service. What do I have in my half of the world, Finn the Human? Hmm?" Nodding to herself, she said, "I have _death_. I have the thousands of deadly things left from when your kind smashed the world out of jealousy and greed. I can't feed a people on death, but I can hold those lush fields hostage..." Her evil bargain, but it was only what she'd been doing this whole time.

The King found himself staring into an abyss. He'd hoped. He'd hoped and prayed that this woman could be talked down from her evil schemes. His mind went back to Talia. T was in danger in her isolated little hell in the frozen wastes. Oh, there was little way for this woman to reach Baba Yaga's redoubt, but that had hardly stopped the Lich. More to the point, he would have to take steps sooner rather than later to follow through on their plan to rid the Nine-Tailed Fox of her burden.

While he was woolgathering, Peihong the Bandit Princess rose from her seat in the pool and slipped across to his side. Settling herself beside him, she poured herself another cup of liquor. She was close, and that made him nervous. He had the curse, but he didn't want to use it. Sipping liquor, the stranger watched him out of the corner of her eyes.

"You're asking for something I can't give you," the King rumbled. "Can you not," she retorted. "You're King of the world, right?" Finn flushed. Nevertheless, he insisted, "you ask too much. I can grant you a kingdom. I can't grant you someone else's kingdom. I don't have that right..." The evil creature chuckled as if he'd told a very funny joke. Her eyes said it. She was capable of _taking_ kingdoms.

The evil woman refilled his cup from the flask. Taking his hand, she brought the cup to his lips, urging him to drink. Stroking his long, blonde hair with those twisted, _battered_ fingers, Peihong told him, "there is a time for negotiation and business, and there is a time one puts business aside for pleasure. It is far easier to negotiate when relaxed..." Sipping from the cup, the big man frowned at her, wondering what she meant. His nemesis showed what was on her mind by standing up and sitting down astraddle his thighs, giving him a good look at that amazing ass.

"Uh...," Finn gabbled. "You know what to do with this, don't you," she said, as she reached for his dong. "We're just having a little fun while we talk..." His eyes said it. He hardly trusted her not to try murdering him. Glancing back, giving him a twisted smile, the ogress set her cup aside, then bent over and got down on all fours in the warm waters. Looking back, she gave the King a come-hither look and even shook that big ass for good measure.

A little corner of his mind–the piece that often argued with him about self-preservation–shouted about the risk of a trap. At the same time, he was in this spot with her, and he was out of ideas on how to sway her to stop this destructive war. _In for a coin,_ he decided, as he set his cup aside. It wasn't like he didn't like pussy.

The big man got to grips with that round butt, stroking her curves. Reaching under her, he got a hand on one of those big knobs while he stroked the kitty, getting it warmed up. The evil woman shuddered. It wasn't quite what she expected from a man who looked like that. Almost of their own volition, those broad hips began to gyrate and wiggle. Finn tweaked the fat tips of her big boobies, causing a soft moan to slip from her lips. These had to be some of the biggest, nicest knockers he'd ever encountered, and he'd encountered a lot.

The big man pulled the ogress back into his arms, drawing her close while he continued to caress those heavy cans and toy with her hot box. Her scent was of harsh lye soap–the stuff Finn used to wash with himself until Simone came into his life. He'd still had a few bars of the stuff in the workshop out back of the house, but the old soap had gotten banished from his home. Simone had civilized him.

The strange woman found herself getting the benefit of that civility as the hung hero did just about everything but what she'd become accustomed to from the male half of humanity. His touches were feather-light. She could _feel_ the rough callouses on his hands, but only just. He had her on fire, and he'd hardly done anything at all. This wasn't the plan! She had a short window here before his confederates found out their lookout was dead. The evil warlord went reaching for that big pecker again.

Seeing what she wanted–that she wanted to move on–Finn got down to business. Bending her over again, he fisted his big pole, aimed it at her snatch, and eased it in. A long, low moan left her lips. And then, as she shoved that big ass back at him, another came. Head thrown back and eyes closed, the evil creature seemed to lose herself in the sensual feel of making love. Finn leaned down over her, got his hands on those tits, and began to give her the works.

You weren't supposed to do this in an onsen. He'd learned that from friends in Sakura's kingdom. The rumors and stories were just that. Usually a place like this was so full of people soaking in the waters, while they chatted or played games, that you hardly had the privacy for something like this. He was, ironically, living a fantasy with a woman who was an avowed enemy of his. It was another example of how crazy his life had become.

At the same time, he had to admit, the pussy was good. It reminded him, in many ways, of Maja. "Harder," she wailed! "Fuck me harder! Squeeze my titties!" Finn gripped those big knockers hard as he could, pulling and jerking at them and pinching the nips painfully hard. He would never have done this to any of his ladies. "Yeah, baby," she howled! "Squeeze 'em like thaaat!" He could feel her climax, and then, moments later again. "Yeah," she moaned. "You fuck pretty good, King of Ooo. Do you give your bitches good dick like this?" "I've never had any complaints," Finn replied, as he stroked that big ass. "Oooh," she sighed, "but you didn't shoot off..." She glanced back at him. He shrugged. He'd had to learn not to get off too quick. He had a lot of girls to keep happy. "Mmmm," she said, giving his pecker a squeeze, "well I'm the only one here. Give it to me, baby..."

The glint in her eye was his only warning. She spun around and shoved him under the water. Sliding down his pecker, she held him there, as she started to ride him. She was strong as fuck, and she was clearly aiming to drown him. Finn bashed her hard in the jaw, breaking her grip. Before she could even blink, he was behind her, transported by the Quicksilver Curse. The big man slammed her face down on the hard edge of the pool, stunning her. Then he was jamming his meat in deep. The evil ogress went crazy, squealing and screaming. Her fingers clawed the stone, and she thrashed and shook. He could tell she was getting off on this. It was like Maja but taken up ten levels.

And then she was fighting him again–fighting to get up. Reaching behind her, she tried to claw his eyes out. Jerking her arm up behind her back until the shoulder joint popped, Finn shoved her back down on the stone. The evil bitch let out an almost triumphal wail as she went over again, this time taking Finn with her. Driving his meat in deep, the hung hero gave her both barrels.

His legs were a little rubbery after that, and he almost fell over backwards. The Bandit Princess flopped down on the stone seat and lay back against the rim of the pool, her head resting on the pavers. Eyes closed, she let out a long, heavy sigh and moaned, "mmm, that was good... Do you fight like that too, Finn the Human?" Warily, Finn sat himself down on the bench just out of easy reach. "Alright," he said. "Play-time's over... Where are we going with this? I need to talk to my cab..." Glaring at him, she primly said, "play-time's over when I _say_ it's over." Quick as a flash, she hopped into his lap. Leaning down, she bit his lip hard enough to draw blood. Then, in a brazen move, she licked her lips clean of the blood. "Mmm, yeah," the evil creature moaned. "I want some more of that. Fuck me some more, hero. Show me whatcha' got that keeps all those bitches on the string..."

Elsewhere in the town, Bronwyn Rainicorn slipped up to the back side of the warehouse. This trip inside was going to be supremely dangerous. She'd only gotten a quick look at the basement. As if that wasn't bad enough, they weren't going to be able to draw the guards away like they had earlier in the day. There was no reason for a street-hawker to be outside with a cart in the middle of the night. The Agent Princess claimed she had a different plan in mind, but she wouldn't share, leaving Bronwyn just the least bit skeptical. She was promised a signal, though. Orzsebet had promised a signal so obvious that it would be impossible to miss. The half-bear glanced at her watch in the dim moonlight. It was almost time.

The town was half asleep, and Bronwyn found herself checking her watch again and again. She could hear the distant roar of the quayside pubs and whorehouses. Thirsty men were quenching their throats and dipping their peckers. The half-bear checked her watch again and only then realized what she'd missed. She could see the hands of the dial clear as day. And that was when the shouts began.

Fire! Fire!

The neighborhood erupted, as the half-bear goggled. One of the large buildings across the road was on fire! _She wouldn't have_, thought the heiress. At the same time, she knew this was the signal. This was something impossible to ignore. Reaching for her center, the hybrid fumbled it twice. Her mind wanted to scream about what they were doing here. Did Finn know? No, he wouldn't have approved this. He wouldn't have approved setting a building on fire. _Move,_ she thought! _Don't waste their sacrifice!_ A flash of light, and she was in the basement, listening to the sounds of running feet up above. They'd be focused on keeping the fire from spreading. They wouldn't want the fire coming _here_! That gave her the chance she needed.

Back in the Onsen, Peihong was riding the King's big thing like a wild creature. If she were at all honest, the ogress would have had to admit she was in love. She'd never gotten it like this before. She was losing the bubble–really sort of forgetting why she was here. Fortunately, the King had that part of things well in hand.

"Who's Chelsea," Finn rumbled? "What does she have to do with this?" It was out of the blue and completely at odds with what they were doing. Head thrown back, the oni retorted, "you know, hero... Mmm, you're so _big_..." Pressing those giant knockers into his face, she said, "mmm... she loved that vile piece of shit... Sick fuck raped her... his own sister, but she's still loyal, so you can guess how fucked up _she_ is..." The look on his face made her laugh.

"_Power_, Finn the Human," she said, before stuffing her tongue in his mouth. "That's... _mmm_... what the world's about. Women are born with none, and we have to steal it from men..." She began to tell him about her own upbringing in a work-house. As he listened in horror, she talked of being forced to climb in and out of machines while they were still running. Brushing his face with her twisted fingers, she talked of having her hands broken a half-dozen times. She told of being raped by the foreman's son.

"I pushed him into a machine," she said. "I took his power, and I eventually killed his father." She'd burned the factory–with the foreman inside. "Evil doesn't correct evil," he muttered. "Does it not," she demanded? "Does it matter if we _correct_ evil? Does evil even matter? Or is evil how we describe _power_?" "Power is one thing," he replied. "Evil is using power to hurt people..." "You're _weak_," she growled! "Am I," he retorted? The big man flipped the wench on her back, pinning her arms above her head. "I could kill you right here," he growled. "Ooaah," she moaned. "Yeah... you could... You could _rape_ me with that big meat-pole." She gave his pecker a squeeze with her hot oven. "You could drown me...," she said. "You're weak because you have power, and you hold back from using it..."

Having had enough of this ugly conversation, Finn stepped back, taking away that marvelous _full_ feeling she'd been savoring. Strangely, that pissed her off more than anything else. She'd been enjoying this far more than she'd expected. "Where do you think you're going," she snapped?! "Back to my hotel," Finn retorted. "I'm. Not. _Finished_," Peihong snarled! That was his only warning. The madwoman jumped on his back and tried to tear off his ear with her teeth. Anticipating the move, he rolled his shoulder and threw her. The big man stood there a moment, dabbing at his injured ear. Laying there on her side in the shallow water, the Bandit Princess growled, "more fucking, less talk..."

Morning found Finn the King sitting in a chair, staring into space while his spymaster took stock of his injuries. He had bruises on his bruises. The Bandit Princess had kept him there in the onsen for hours even after they left the water. It felt a lot like he'd been in a fight for his life instead of getting laid. Smearing some salve on one of the larger bruises, Orzsebet reminded him, "I told you not to go." Bronwyn had been terrified when they realized that the lookout had gotten himself whacked.

The King of Ooo glared at the Lady of Spies. For response, she merely pressed the wooden spatula into the bruise she'd been tending, causing him to screech like a kicked cat. "Did you learn anything," she asked? "Other than that she's fucking crazy," Finn retorted? Laying his head back against the wall, he said, "she's got a lot of fucking weapons, Orzsebet. She's been collecting them since the Lich went down. I think she started out taking orders from Penny. I think Penny gave her the job of gathering up more weapons to destroy the world. When the whole thing with the Lich came out in the open, she went rogue and set up business for herself."

The Agent Princess frowned at him. She should have known about that. She'd been well aware of the Thief King's efforts to steal the Lich's prison, but she'd considered it the usual maneuvering of gangsters. She should have known that somebody was collecting massive amounts of deadly weapons. Seeming to read her mind, Bronwyn said, "she's got men in your organization..." Finn glanced up at his paramour. "She has to have spies among the spies, Finn," said Bronwyn. Gritting her teeth, Orzsebet nodded. It made sense. It made a _lot_ of sense when she thought about all the things she'd been accused of. _Someone_ had been telling the Committee about the money she'd squirreled away in secret accounts in the far east.

Well," said Bronwyn, "while you were entertaining our opponent, _I_ found our missing Queen." Finn sat up ant took notice. "In the basement of the warehouse," Bronwyn confirmed, "just like we figured. She's alone. She's awake, too. I heard her talking..." She might well have been praying. Bronwyn hadn't gotten close enough to be noticed. The last thing they needed was for Breezy to reveal that rescue was at hand. "So," said the half-bear, "what're we doing?" She sounded smug. "Planning," Finn replied. The news was good–great even–but there was still a vast gulf between them and Breezy. They had to get her out of that warehouse with just the resources they had on hand here, and they likely only had a few days to do it at the outside.

On the far side of town, their adversary was also up and working on business, having immediately summoned her minions. Seated at the head of the table, the ogress took a hit from the blunt in her left hand and blew out a cloud of licorice smoke. She was relaxed in a way that nobody could recall seeing in _months_. She'd gotten laid, clearly. Everybody knew it. She'd come in walking funny like somebody had busted the pussy wide open, can't close it up. Still, that hardly seemed to explain the mood. "I'm going," she said, "back to the west. Close down shop here. I have what I came for..." "I'll have the package loaded," announced her lieutenant. "No," she said, "ship it east to my stronghold. Drop some hints that the package is there. It will tie him up for months." She needed a few precious months where he wouldn't be searching for _her_.

**Billy saves the day, and, as a reward, gets his kids back. Bronwyn's found Breezy.**

**And Bandit Princess... What could she be up to now? :^**


	41. Chapter 41

Chapter 41:

The warehouse had an almost _sinister_ air to Finn Mertens. It was a nondescript place like a few dozen other such places in the shadowport. All were hosts to sinister and clearly illegal activities. The former policeman knew the signs well. The building down the street was a dust-lab. The walls were stained with odd substances and a strange chemical funk hung about the place. The warehouse across the street grew wacky licorice, tended by a portly lollipop with bad teeth. This was the place where damnation grew.

The warehouse before him practiced an older, uglier trade. Its defenses faced inwards, not outwards. It looked a lot like a crumbling, mud-brick prison. This place kept humanoid cargo. It was the one place that truly enraged him. No-one was forced to snort dust. The licorice man wasn't holding a gun to anyone's head. You didn't need to buy the product. Slavery was a different story. "Ok," said the King. "Let's do this." He was planning on returning. He was going to return and some ugly people were going to die.

The Lady of Spies keyed the phone in her pocket. Moments later, the warehouse on the far side erupted in flames. The men inside were bought off, and now they came rushing out shouting fit to wake the dead. The cry was soon taken up in neighboring buildings. In the shadowport's close-packed streets, fire was serious business. At the same time, this _was_ a den of pirates and thieves. As many men went out the door to deal with the threat, just as many stayed inside, guarding against raiders. Of course, the guards would be focused on the outside world. Taking Finn's hand, Bronwyn drew a deep breath and leaped.

Hundreds of miles to the west, the Boss of Bosses sat staring at her ledgers, combing over them one more time. It was always 'one more'. She was deep in hock with Bonnie, and she knew that problem was only going to grow when the Bubblegum Princess found out that Cherry's agents had looted the treasury in the former Wildberry Kingdom. The gold had been deposited in an account in Engagement Ring Kingdom under Finn's name. It was a fait accompli, and Bonnie Bubblegum was going to go berserk. Shortly after, Cherry expected to be at war with her former overlord.

With the crisis in the bunker handled, the diminutive crime boss had returned to her quandary. She had to get her taxes filed–accurately–or risk a humiliating trip to jail over the smallest of pretexts. Unfortunately, noise outside the door announced another interruption. "Come in," announced the little gangster. The door opened, and her visitor stepped in, shutting the door behind herself.

"Sarah," Cherry burbled. She was only half paying attention. Most of her attention was on the papers spread out before her. The android goggled at her. Frowning, she murmured, "you can tell us apart..." "Sarah doesn't walk around with her head in the clouds," Cherry rumbled. The android-girl flushed to her hair at that damning assessment of her creator. Setting aside her papers, Cherry asked, "what brings you?" She had her ideas. There was plenty of unresolved baggage between them. Marshall Lee wasn't the only person she'd wronged. Having heard Braco's reputation, Cherry didn't think much of the man, but he had still been Sarah's husband.

"I want to understand grief," Sarah murmured.

If you had asked Cherry what she thought the android-woman would ask her, that was pretty far down the list. She understood that this strange living machine was a person. She understood that Sarah was a person in the same manner that Nadia or Marshall were people. At the same time, she'd never given much thought to the play of emotions behind that pretty face. Face hot, Sarah babbled, "I... I don't have anybody else to talk to about this... Bonnie suggests I close myself off." "She would," Cherry snorted.

Sitting back in her chair, the little woman murmured, "tell me something... Why do _you_ need to understand grief?" Sarah frowned at her. "I'm not challenging your _personhood_, honey," Cherry replied. "What I don't understand is why you're grieving..." "You're going to die," Sarah blurted. Staring down at the desk, her face hot with the shame of having said that, the android-woman nonetheless said, "you're mortal. You're _all_ mortal..." "...and you're going to live forever," Cherry agreed. "Maybe." Sarah's face snapped up. "Y-you're suggesting suicide," she howled! "I'm suggesting that nothing ever goes quite the way you think it will," the crime-boss replied.

Leaning forward, Cherry said, "what you're feeling ain't grief, honey. It's _anticipation_. You're worrying over what _could_ be instead of living with the what is. I get it. I spent decades living with what I _wanted_ the world to be instead of living with the world I _had_. Finn... could have been my husband _decades_ ago. Simone would probably still be crazy and living with the Ice King. Maybe this whole crazy business would never have gotten started. I wasted a lifetime on grief and might-have-beens instead of living it up in the _now_ that I had."

Sarah opened her mouth and shut it again. Softly, Cherry murmured, "I can't tell you how to live with grief, honey. No more than you could teach me how to fly around a computer network with my mind. You're going to grieve. Someday. Maybe that's for Finn. Maybe it'll be for Betty. Or maybe it'll be somebody else you haven't even met yet. I can only ask that you keep your wits and keep going _forward_ instead of sitting down in the ugly to drown like I did. Keep going. Live. That's my advice to you."

Sarah took a deep breath and let it go. As Cherry watched, she did it again. And then again. Rising, she said, "thank you for your time." "Thank you for the love you give this family," Cherry replied. Sarah flushed. She'd been... bad with that lately. She'd been neglecting the kids. She'd been neglecting the other members of the family. She'd even been ducking Finn and Betty. _That has to change,_ she decided. Shaking herself, she rose and turned to go, announcing, "you mistyped line seventy-five on your tax form. Your calculations are off by ten-thousand coins." Cherry goggled at her backside. She'd been racking her brain for _weeks_ on why her taxes weren't adding up.

Back in the shadowport, Finn stood in the silence of the darkened basement stairs listening to the bedlam let loose in the warehouse above. Orzsebet's hired thugs were mounting their fake attack on the warehouse's front door. The bandits were in chaos. Meanwhile, Bronwyn was investigating the cell where she'd heard the noise. "Finn," she hissed. "It's her! I'm sure of it!"

Turning away from the stairs, Finn hustled down the darkened passage to Bronwyn's side. The big man glanced through the narrow window, but he could see nothing. Taking a breath, the big man thought about his options. When he broke through the door, the enemy would hear the commotion. They'd be neck-deep in enemies afterward. This could be their one chance. _Come too far to do nothing,_ he decided.

Motioning for Bronwyn to step aside, the big man jammed his metal fingers into the lock and tore it off the door. As Bronwyn flicked on her flashlight, Finn went striding into the cell. Finn's eyes fell on his dear old friend, sitting on a hard stone bench wearing only the tattered nightgown she'd been wearing when kidnaped. Striding forward, the big man swept Breezy up and hugged his old friend fiercely. She began to cry softly. Of course there was little time for a reunion. Bronwyn cleared her throat, reminding Finn that they needed to move. Breezy glanced down, drawing Finn's attention to the chain around her ankle. Bronwyn chuckled, "not a problem..." Taking both their hands, she focused on the window to Finn's rented room and leaped.

Back in the Jungle Kingdom, the Court was wrapping up another long, _late_ session. The whole business had been contentious with much of Ooo's royalty lined up against the Jungle Kingdom, leaving Billy in the unhappy role of moderator. Abieuwa did herself no favors, flip-flopping between insults and tears. She almost reflexively refused to do what she'd promised in providing an assessment of what was in the bunker even as she'd gotten cornered into agreeing that it was sorely needed.

Just now Desert Princess and Crab Princess were both railing on her. It stood to reason. They were going to be most affected by a cataclysm. And Billy? He was letting them. The lesson needed to take. The world was different. The world had moved on from the one his wife had grown up in. It was different even than the world _Billy_ had grown up in. It was useless for Abieuwa to sit on her high-horse, behaving as if nothing had changed when the evidence was figuratively slapping her in the face.

The pressure was mounting. Abieuwa had been squirming all through the evening–basically since they'd gotten back from a rather silent dinner. Now she was all but dancing in her chair like she had ants in her drawers. She was on the hot-seat. She was on the ragged edge of having the Privy Council vote to _take_ her people's legacy. They could very well force Billy to enforce the decree. While the King of Ooo had a lot of power, he also existed in a space at the whim of the Privy Council. They had the power to remove him if they could find the will–and the consensus–to do it.

Finn the Human understood it. He understood it better than the princesses themselves. Now, Billy was starting to see it. He was starting to see just why it was that his father still stepped so carefully around the feelings of the princesses, only daring to smash them when they were so clearly in the wrong that everybody could agree with the act–indeed often with the other princesses cheering him on. Abieuwa was tripping across that ugly reality. Her Royal Husband couldn't help her squirm out of this one–not without alienating a lot of people who had very real grievances with what she was doing.

Just now, they were talking of 'nationalizing' the death-metal stores. They were talking of the Kingdom of Ooo taking control of the whole thing–just moving it into the King's hands, where presumably they could tell Finn what to do with the problem. That was a little too far, and Billy decided to intervene before some things got said to permanently disturb the peace.

"It's a little early for that, I think," Billy interrupted. The Desert Princess's mouth snapped shut in mid-ramble. "I would no more take the legacy from the people of the Jungle than I would take the kelp-beds from the Crab Folk," the big man announced. "Just as Rozamond's people have ably managed their kelp-beds for centuries, so have the Jungle People held up this burden. I think that what we need to do is _help_ them manage their awesome responsibility." Abeiuwa flinched. She knew just how that _management_ was going to occur, just as she knew that she was all but helpless to prevent it. She'd maneuvered _herself_ into a corner. Instead of being a shrewd ruler, she'd shamed her house by being the Princess to fuck up and lose control of the Legacy.

"What're you planning," Bonnie burbled? Her voice sounded... worried. Billy knew that his stepmom had issues with the way his dad often handled things. Finn often flew by the seat of the pants–just _doing_ it, consequences be damned. Billy didn't have the track-record that his father had. "Let me sleep on it, Your Highness," Billy said. "Let's all sleep on this matter. We're going to, all of us, take action, but let us sleep on the matter and come to an idea of what's _fair_." Bonnie blew out a relieved breath. "Ok," she said. "We'll meet again at ten sharp tomorrow. The meeting stands adjourned."

Billy rose and offered Abieuwa his arm. For a wonder, she accepted. He was in for a shouting match when they got back to quarters. Behind them, the rogue slime princess lapsed into muted swearing. She didn't understand why they were doing so little. As far as she was concerned, the situation was still _dire_. There were tons of highly-enriched death-metal just miles away in a volatile enough state that just jostling a few containers could cause a catastrophe. Just a minor earthquake could shift the stores enough to cause doomsday.

Rolling her eyes, Hurletta interrupted her sister's ranting with, "then _do something_, Blargetha." The evil genius's mouth snapped shut. Nodding, Hurletta said, "you're the _genius_, Blargetha. Be useful for once. If there's a problem, go find an answer." Without a further word, the plush princess turned and strode out, leaving the younger sister staring at her back.

Out on the sea, a ramshackle freighter took advantage of the tide to scramble out of the shadowport and out to sea. At the rail, Finn the human stared at the chaos running wild through the streets. He thought Cherry would be angry. The fire had spread to the dust-lab, which had exploded, likely taking all hands. The fallout had set the licorice grow-op on fire. A whole crop of high-quality ganja was burning.

And a lot of angry gangsters were butchering each other in the streets.

Finn had taken advantage of the pointing fingers–and thrusting knives–to get Breezy, Orzsebet, and Bronwyn _out_ of the town. Now he found himself worried about the fallout. He didn't want _more_ bad men in the Bandit Princess's camp. _A worry for tomorrow,_ he decided, as he turned from the rail. He had Breezy back. His flank was secure. The wall was up. He had space to turn outward–to hunt down Peihong the Bandit Princess.

Heading below, the big man stopped first at Bronwyn's room. Knocking on the door, the King waited for the half-bear to answer. "Just a minute," Bronwyn sang out. Finn waited as the rustle of cloth announced that she was making herself presentable. A few moments later, the door opened, revealing Kim's daughter dressed in a tatty robe. Her long, blonde hair was wet, announcing that she'd just had a wash. Taking note of the way the big man's eyes slid away from her, she remarked, "all they had..." It wasn't the raggedy condition. It was the fact that the robe gave his fertile mind dangerous thoughts. Nevertheless, when she stepped aside, he walked in.

"We should be in Jungle Kingdom tomorrow afternoon," said the King. "I can have you taken home." Her eyes said it. Her trust for her dad was in the toilet. "You'll have to deal with him sometime, B," Finn reminded her. "Think about how to do this..." The half-bear nodded. It appeared that was all he was going to get. "Thanks," he said, sincerely. Taking her hand, he gave it a squeeze. Shocking him, the younger woman hugged him. "We'll get to the bottom of this," he promised her. "He's probably worried..." She gave him a harumph. Letting go, Finn turned to go.

Standing in the door, he reminded her, "even if he made a mistake, he's your dad..." "Is he still your nephew," Bronwyn retorted? Finn flinched. She knew it was the wrong thing to say when she said it. Her dad had kicked this man out of his home. Her dad, aunts, and uncle had pissed on Finn repeatedly. Recovering, the King stepped out the door, shutting it behind him. Shaking his head and muttering curses, the big man headed up the hall to Breezy's room. Jake's family was self-destructing, and there seemed little he could do about it.

Knocking on the door to Breezy's quarters, the King announced, "it's me, Finn..." "Come in, please," announced the Queen Bee. Finn opened the door and stepped inside to a wonderful sight. Breezy stood in the center of the cramped space wearing a nightgown every bit as tatty as Bronwyn's. They certainly hadn't had time to buy anything better. Two steps forward and they were embracing.

"You look great," Finn whispered. "How did you find me," she sobbed? "Aerwin," Finn replied. "Barton showed her a picture of you in chains..." Breezy's eyes went wide, and she gasped in fear. He knew what she was thinking. "She's ok," Finn rumbled. She could _hear_ the rage in his voice. There were things he wasn't telling her, and she called him on it. Face a mask, the King of Ooo declared, "I'm Regent until you get home." Cupping his squared-off chin in her hands, Breezy responded, "the fact that you suddenly know how to pronounce 'regent' doesn't change the fact that you're hiding something."

"I fucked him up," growled Finn. It came out angry. He was angry about what Bart had done. Breezy found herself wondering just how badly Bart had gotten 'fucked up'. There was a bottomless capacity for _rage_ in the big man's heart, usually unleashed when someone hurt people he cared for. Breezy lay her head on his shoulder. The big man flinched. He was a little prickly, but she understood it. "I love you, Finn," she sighed. "I always have. I always will."

Whispering to her delicate little ear, the big man said, "I thought you just liked the grass-sword..." He was teasing her. It had started that way. Until she fell in love with the man himself. "I used to get so fucking _horny_ listening to you getting those bitches off," Breezy muttered. It was a not-so-subtle reminder of the attraction that had been growing between them the last year. Turning to face her, the big man took her lovely face in his hands and kissed her plump lips. This was it. There was nothing in the way, now. His eyes seemed to say it. Now he was going to get _her_ off.

Indeed, Finn slowly stepped forward, subtly making the Queen Bee step back until she sat down on the narrow bed in a rush. Leaning down, the big man continued to kiss his lady, his hands stroking her shoulders gently. It was a far cry from those long-ago days where he had fumbled things a couple of times. He touched her so nice, and she was only barely aware of him laying her back on the bed. Her senses were focused on the feel of his big hands on her boobies. Laying beside her, the big man caressed and stroked those fat knockers, flicking the hard tips for the pleasure of her sighs. Finn kissed his way across her cheek and teased her ear with his tongue, causing her to shiver.

Reaching down, the big man put a hand on her knee, stroking her shapely thigh. At the same time, he caught her lips with his, and, in short order, they were enthusiastically kissing. Showing that his hands were just as fast as Breakfast had said, Finn's rushin' fingers seemed to be everywhere at once, caressing her breasts and stroking her thighs. Breezy found herself pawing him. Eyes closed, she remembered. The night he'd come close to screwing Breakfast Princess. He'd gotten Breakfast off three times while she watched from a corner, wearing a magic disguise.

She remembered the night he'd gone down on Engagement Ring Princess. It was the first Breezy had ever seen a man do that, and it had been the beginning of her own obsession with Finn. Constance had been making so much noise, Finn had stuffed her own panties in her mouth to shut her up. Of course, there had also been the train-wreck with the Lizard Princess. Finn had beat-feet when he caught sight of the claws hidden in her fingertips. Breezy had used magic to distract the horny lizard-girl, while Finn made good his escape. She'd learned as much about sex as Finn had in those crazy days.

Barton had never touched her the way Finn did. "Oooaaah," moaned the bee-girl, her fingers clutching at his hands, where they were touching her joy-button and her heaving left breast. Nibbling at her ear, the big man told her that she should have shed the disguise earlier. Seeing that bangin' body, he would have been hers at word one. Pawing at his shirt, she answered that challeng with, "I'm not wearin' a disguise now...!"

Together, they got his jacket off. That ended up in a corner of the room. His shirt ended up atop the tiny dresser. Bending down, Finn rolled the nightgown up her legs, baring her broad hips and shockingly narrow waist. She was the definition of wasp-waisted. Jerking her legs apart, the big man went for the Y. Breezy freaked, wailing, "F-iinnnnn..." Likely the entirety of the ship heard her. Not that it stopped the big man from going at her hard. She lost track of how many orgasms she had under his expert touch, and she was dripping with sweat when he quit.

Of course, when she became aware of her surroundings again, her new man was climbing up over her, naked as she was now. Somewhere in the middle of things, her nightgown had come off completely. Breezy wrapped her arms around Finn and grabbed his ass, shouting, "oh, baby... Give me that big flashlight..." Finn was happy to oblige.

Their bodies were crashing together, and Breezy was at full cry. Her fingers were clawing at the sheets, pinching his shoulders, and even pulling on his ass, as he gave her the works. She was vaguely aware of something banging and thought it must have been the bed hitting the wall. It was only as Finn was shooting off the first time that she realized that she didn't have her diaphragm–not that she cared at all at the moment. She'd been getting the punishment all these years. Now she had the pleasure of the sin to go with it.

Her plump lips nipped at his ear as she said, "I don't have my diaphragm in..." Finn felt a surge of heat to his face as he realized that he'd just shot a thick load of his goo into his 'bro' and maybe knobbed her belly with his baby. At the same time, he was turned on. Honestly, he couldn't really help being turned on. His hips made little fuck-bump motions, sliding his semi-hard cock in and out of her slimy snatch. "Oooh, baby," moaned Breezy. "You like it, don't you..." He did indeed. His pecker came roaring back to life at the thought of getting her preggers.

Grabbing her long, legs, the big man pushed her ankles up by her head and started to pound her good. "M-more, baby," howled Breezy?! "Gonna' make sure," Finn grunted. "Ooooh," she howled as that thought sent her crashing over the edge again. It wasn't going to be an _accident_ now. He was going to make _sure_ her belly got big! In moments, they were one big nasty, Finn riding her hard and fast in almost manic fashion. It was the knowledge that he _shouldn't_ be doing this–taking them down this road–and the certain knowledge that Simone and Cherry would be _delighted_ by this development that drove him on.

It was only after he'd gone over the edge the second time that the big man noticed the pounding on the wall. Bronwyn was shouting at them, reminding Finn that it was stupid to get caught up banging a girl in a tiny room with paper-thin walls. Rolling over on his back in the tiny bunk, the King of Ooo drew his Queen Bee in against him and drifted off.

It was well after Finn had gone to sleep that it occurred to Breezy just what Finn had meant. Bart was dead. Finn had killed him. She wasn't quite sure how she felt about that. She hated her husband, but she hadn't wanted to kill him. Of course he _had_ sold her out to be kidnaped and murdered, so there was that. On top of that, she was quite possibly pregnant now. She found herself blushing as she thought of Finn 'making sure'. How was she going to explain that? Part of her didn't care. Finn was King, and he'd already more than proven his worth to her people.

The ship was tieing up at the docks the following morning when Finn woke up. Maybe it was all the stress, and maybe it was the sweet release of being at the end of this crazy road, but he'd gone down hard and slept like a baby. It was Breezy coming back from the toilet that finally roused him from his sleep. "Morning, B," he greeted her. The Queen Bee gave him a smile, as she approached. Her eyes seemed to say it. She wanted to jump him some more. A corner of his mind realized that Orzsebet had quite possibly been waiting on him in the other room last night–and heard the whole thing. It was nasty–like Simone's story of watching him do it with Phoebes.

Breezy sat down on the edge of the bed and reached for the covers, saying, "I'm not in a big hurry to get off the boat. Are you?" Nope. He wasn't in a hurry at all to get back to work. Truth? Breezy was the one he hadn't realized had gotten away. Why hadn't he noticed? _Too busy feeling sorry for myself,_ he thought. Pounding on the wall startled the pair, reminding Finn of his vow last night. No more stupid shenanigans. "We...," he started to say. "...better get dressed," Breezy sighed. Nodding, she got up, grabbed one of the outfits he'd brought for her, and headed for the toilet up the hall.

Bronwyn was glaring at Finn's back when they got off the ship. A part of him wanted to remind her that he could put her on that plane for home if she was really so uptight. The Agent Princess said not a word as they walked down the pier towards the shore. A wagon was waiting there to whisk them immediately to the palace, and the quartet piled in.

No sooner had the wagon jerked into motion than the King got down to business. "She's going to go to ground," Finn said. "I suspect she'll maybe go west to throw us off." The Lady of Spies replied, "my network is weak in the southwestern continent. It will take time to find her." "Start working in Blanca's kingdom," Finn commanded. "She was messing with an ancient temple in Coca Kingdom. I'll be sending Bill to take charge and get Blanca into line. You'll have the access that you need." "It will be as you wish," rumbled the Agent Princess.

The King drew his phone, dialed Aerwin's number, and shoved it in Breezy's face. Orzsebet glanced away, and Bronwyn found herself fighting back tears as the reunion unfolded before her eyes. "I'm ok, baby," Breezy swore. "Be home soon. Keep an eye on Ariadne and Timothy... Sure, honey..." The Queen Bee handed the phone back to Finn, saying, "she wants to thank you..." It amused Bronwyn to watch the big man squirming in embarrassment at Aerwin's profuse thanks.

Rolling into the Royal Compound, they found three figures waiting on them. Cherry, Simone, and Drew were standing before the palace doors as the wagon rattled to a halt. Finn alit from the wagon, moving to embrace his wives as he did so, but Simone and Cherry were far more interested in Breezy. Brushing past Finn's outstretched arms, the pair snatched up the Queen Bee, with Simone hugging the stuffing out of her. "B-b-breaking the ribs...," Breezy wheezed.

Releasing her, Simone turned to her grand-niece and said, "your mother's been asking if I could have Finn intervene in finding you. I guess I won't have to." Drew moved in then. Grabbing the two kidnap victims by their wrists, the doctor strode off, half-dragging the pair behind her, with Finn and Cherry rushing after them. Finn was left alone with Orzsebet. "Well, _that_ was interesting," rumbled the Agent Princess. Finn shrugged. There was work to get done.

Court was already in session when the pair arrived at Abeiuwa's throne room. Much to the Agent Princess's surprise, it wasn't the Lady of the Southern Jungles on the throne. It was Finn's son. The Ice Prince was in the middle of laying out just what it was that needed to get done. Far from stepping forward, Finn actually held her back, keeping them just out of sight of the people at the far end of the room. It took a moment, and then the Lady of Spies realized that her new patron was watching his son. And grading him.

"It won't wait, Your Highness," Billy told Nadia. "We're not where I'd like to be with either the barrier in the north or the smaller barrier for Jungle Kingdom, but this has priority. I need an accounting of the cooling system for the bunker. It's essential. I want to be sure that the accident has done nothing to impede cooling of the lower levels. The only way we're going to get that done is with your people's forcefield tech. I'll be sending Lady Olesia north tomorrow to secure help from the Fire Kingdom."

"I don't know that I agree with this plan," announced Bonnie. "Given the distressing effects on an elemental's physiology, using their life-force to sustain a forcefield machine..." "If you have an alternate idea, Your Highness, I'm all ears," Billy interrupted. Bonnie stopped in mid-sentence and blinked at him. "This isn't the path I'd choose if we had a better way to sustain the machine," Billy continued. He'd neatly used Bonnie's own pride to shut her down, offering her a chance to hang herself. It was smooth. It was smoother than Finn might have done it.

"Olesia reckons that four elementals, taking turns, can run one of the forcefields for at least three hours," Billy continued. "It's risky, but it's a reduced risk. This can work, Princess Bonnibel." Bonnie took a deep breath and let it go. Nodding, she said, "I think that we should contract for at least twelve elementals, giving them the opportunity to do this in shifts." "Agreed," Billy said.

Moving on, the big man declared, "that at least gets us an idea as to the condition of the cooling system. We need to look at evacuating the upper levels of the facility..." Abieuwa glared at him but said nothing. Billy went straight at her, asking, "what is the state of your treasury?" That question brought a frown of puzzlement out on her lovely face. "Gonna' have to split the treasure, babe," said Billy. "It's your legacy. I don't want to take it from you. I only need it to be safe. We need a place to store the legacy so that the machines in the bunker can restore the bunker to its original balance. We're buying time..." With a sigh, Abieuwa admitted, "there are caves, William... The same caves where the yellow dust is mined. Some of the old tunnels. We could store the casks there."

"But that leaves the risk of Bandit Princess getting her hands on the casks," Hurletta howled! "We can't go that way!" "They can't stay here," shouted Desert Princess! "We can't risk an explosion! The material has to move! It should be confiscated! We... the barrier machines need the fuel anyway!" That precipitated another round of shouting. Hurletta's eyes flicked to her idiot sister. Blargetha said, "working on it... Gimme a couple of days. I'll have an idea..." Hurletta groaned. They didn't have days. They needed an answer before these idiots went at each other's throats.

Finn stepped forward then, announcing, "Princess Nadia will arrange an airship to transport one of the storage containers for the machine army to the caves..." The argument cut out in mid-cry. Every face there looked to the King, as he came striding up the aisle. Billy came off the throne like his ass was on fire. The King waved him to a stop. Standing in the middle of the aisle, the big man declared, "you've done good work taking care of things. Thanks, son." Billy's face went hot. Abieuwa's hand caught his and gave it a squeeze.

Turning back to the matter at hand, Finn the King declared, "we will have the machines on patrol at the caves in three days time. As Knight-Marshal of the Southern Jungles, Prince William will be given charge of them. As soon as the machines are on guard, the emptying of the bunker will begin..." Turning to the nervous-looking elder standing near Abieuwa's seat, the King said, "the Guild will have their men on hand to account for every cask, and each should be weighed and measured according to the guild's standard and then recorded as is custom. A Master from the Guild will accompany each shipment as it is sent for interment." Clasping his hands together and bowing, the Guildmaster declared, "it is _fair_, King. This is fair. We thank you." Abieuwa relaxed visibly.

As the gathering was relaxing–climbing down off the ledge–Drew appeared, startling everyone. Grabbing Orzsebet by the ear, she said, "I'm told you drowned! Come along. Time for a checkup..." Not that she gave the Agent Princess a choice. As the gathering roared laughter, the Royal Physician dragged the Lady of Spies out the door by her ear.

**And Breezy is rescued. One more thread is done. Now time to take care of some 'problems'.**


	42. Chapter 42

Chapter 42:

The King of Ooo kept Billy on the hotseat most of the morning. It was clear to Olesia that he was confirming William's place as his heir. It was just as clear Billy would rather have been _anywhere_ else. He squirmed so much that Abieuwa put a hand on his leg to stop him. In the mean time, New Finn was in full effect, issuing edicts that stunned his Royal Audience.

They were going to find a collective way to make use of the death-metal–something that preserved Jungle Kingdom's rights while reducing the overall stock of the dangerous material. They were going to work on closer ties with the western kingdoms, lest future threats arise there. The work on the Tesla Barriers was now top priority for the Grid-Face People, second only to work on the Bunker's safety. In the King's mind, it was essential that the Civilized Kingdoms be protected.

That last brought howls of protest from some quarters. Finn shut the griping down. "Truth Kingdom is peaceful," he reminded Sakura. "You can't come rescue the other kingdoms from war, Your Highness. If Warrior Kingdom is flattened, who rescues _you_?" The little princess gobbled soundlessly. It was a new and coldly pragmatic way of looking at things, and it gave the princesses pause.

"I don't take these steps lightly," Finn declared. "I've learned these last years that war is easy. Preventing war is hard. We'll all have to sacrifice. My family has been at the head of the line. Now, I ask all of you... Roll up your sleeves. Do your part." It was a short speech, but it was impressive. He'd shamed some of them. Billy could see it. Seizing the moment, Bonnie adjourned the meeting for lunch. There would be plenty of time to fight in the afternoon. Billy headed out immediately. Olesia was headed to the airfield, and he wanted to say goodbye.

The big man caught up to his 'mistress' in the Royal Garden. "Baby, hold on," he called. Olesia stopped and turned to face him, her face a little flushed to hear him call her that. Taking her right hand, the Ice Prince whispered, "I-I wanna be sure you're ok." She was supposed to be getting a complete physical when she got home. She was. She also intended to get back to his side regardless of what the doctor had to say. He needed her. Here. Putting a finger to his lips, she said, "I'll be back soon..."

Just then a familiar voice howled, "poppy!" Billy had only a moment to react, and then Anders was piling into his crotch at full tilt. In spite of the pain, the big man snatched his stepson up and hugged him, showering him with kisses that made him giggle. It was a scene that brought tears to Ragnhild's eyes. With a smile, Olesia said, "I'll see you in a few days..." The plump girl stepped around Billy, headed for her room to collect the few clothes she had here. She had a plane to catch. Before she could go, Ragnhild stepped in her way–a reminder of William's peculiar circumstances. "Thank you," she murmured. "You're welcome," Olesia replied as she got on her way.

Billy wore a nervous expression as his wife approached. Far from giving him hell about Olesia, Rags threw herself on him and cried. The older woman hugged him for all she was worth. "Is she going to be ok," asked Ragnhild? It took a moment. Her young husband admitted, "they have her on meds. The prognosis is good. Her arm is healing..." "And you," Ragnhild asked? "Under observation," he admitted. "I got a dose. Not as bad as Olesia and JJ." Balancing their son on one hip, the big man took her by the hand, saying, "walk with me..."

Far to the north, on the other side of the sea, Star was just starting her day, when noise downstairs announced the man of the house had returned. She was sitting in the breakfast nook, feeding their 'oldest' daughter when Thor reached the top of the stairs. "Hey, baby," she greeted him. Thor found his heart singing when he caught sight of his wife. The look on his face made Candy giggle. They made a silly couple–a giant of a man with his tiny little wife. "Candy," Star growled. "What're you doing out in the sun...?" The vampire flushed. That wasn't exactly the reaction she'd expected after all Thor's angst. In some ways, it was more dangerous. Holding up her arm, encased in the rubberized cloth of an ugly yellow raincoat, she said, "I have my slicker on..." The nymph gave her a skeptical look.

Rising, the little woman came striding over, looking the younger woman up and down. "My brother's been calling people, asking if they'd seen you," Star growled. Candy goggled at her, her mind went to her family. She'd been ignoring messages and ducking her peeps. In retrospect, that was probably not a good idea. Grabbing her by the arm, the little wood-nymph dragged her over to the breakfast nook, and all but threw her into a chair there. Striding over to the kitchen, the little woman said, "I didn't make much food, baby. I didn't expect you home..." Still, she put together a platter for her hubby. It reminded Candy of the way Marshall and Connie tried to make she and her mom 'at home' in their space.

As Thor settled in with breakfast, the little wood-nymph went to the cupboard and brought out a can of tomato-soup and asked, "red?" Candy frowned at her. "Are you hungry," Star clarified? "Uh, yes," the vampire meekly burbled. Juggling a baby, the wood-nymph deftly cracked open a can, put it in a bowl, and lay it in front of her visitor. Sitting down beside her husband, the wood nymph took out her phone and started typing out a message to her brother. "What you been doing," she asked? "I was helping Thor here track down the gangsters," Candy replied.

Star glanced to her hubby. Between bites, the big man explained, "they apparently know who I am..." It didn't take hardly a moment. Candy had been using her powers of invisibility to spy on Bandit-Bitch's peeps. After the disastrous events of the war with Wildberry, Star no longer thought of vampires as invincible. What Candy had been doing was _very_ dangerous. The wood-nymph's finger had been hovering over the 'send' button. Now she found herself carefully editing the message. Marshall didn't really need to know all of that. "You can stay here until it's dark enough to go home," Star declared. And that was that.

The afternoon session took up right where the morning session had left off–with the matter of the death-metal stores and the future peace of Ooo. This time Finn was on the throne, a fact Billy was rather grateful for. He felt like a coward, but he didn't want the job. He didn't want to be King. He wanted to be a dad. He loved being a husband. Those were the jobs he wanted. And maybe that was the thing that separated his father from the despots that had gone before. Finn the King didn't want to _be_ a king.

"I intend to enlist the learned members of the Privy Council," the King announced. "I want to look at possible uses of the metal in the bunker that can reduce the stock... drastically. I want ideas that reward the folk of Jungle Kingdom for their hard work, but reduce our risk. I want to hear ideas for things we can do to improve the lives of not just the peeps in the Civilized Kingdoms, but the people in the kingdoms beyond the wall..." It was a tall order, and Hurletta hardly saw how it was possible to do all of that. The wild lands were just that. Wild. Chaos reigned there, with petty tyrants popping up, killing each other in occasional orgies of bloodletting, and then getting replaced. The Bandit Princess was just the latest and most successful example.

The debate started at that point. It was seemingly a fact of life that the Royals of Ooo couldn't be bothered to work together. It was a shameful reality that many of them couldn't be bothered to think before they spoke. Hurletta was ashamed to see some of the _thoughts_ that got expressed. Nearly all of them were some flavor of ignorant. They knew nothing, and, rather than keep that fact to themselves, they shouted it from the rafters. Some wanted to just dump the stuff in the sea! As if that was good for the creatures living there. One idiot even asked why they couldn't turn it back into the sand it came from.

In that atmosphere of idiocy, the younger slime princess came slipping through the crowd. It was only when she was almost at the throne that Hurletta herself noticed. The younger woman had a binder in her hands, something that Hurletta was very familiar with. Blargetha had been the 'dreamer'. At least she'd been when Hurletta was being charitable. She'd gotten _schooled_ on what was really in that mind in a very cruel fashion. Now Hurletta found herself wondering what terrible things were in that binder as the plush princess stepped out in front of the dais.

"Princess Blargetha," Finn greeted the plump princess. Offering him a sweeping bow, Blargetha announced, "Your Majesty..." In icy tones, Princess Bubblegum replied, "your presence was not asked, Princess Blargetha..." She was basically asking 'why aren't you in your cage?' Seeing the looming fireworks, Sarah stepped off on an intercept course. Blargetha announced, "I bring a proposal, Your Majesty. A way to meet your obligations as Warlord..." Before Bonnie could say a word, the younger slime princess had shoved past the guard. Kneeling at Finn's feet, she offered, "the flying weapons may not be adequate as they are. I propose arming some of them with death-rockets... Here... Look at these..."

Before Bonnie could object, Finn had taken the packet from 'Letta's evil sister. As Blargetha's chest rose and fell with her terror, Finn thumbed through the pages in his hands. Bonnie's face grew visibly pale at what was contained therein. "Guards," shouted Bonnibel Bubblegum! "This woman has violated the Peace of Ooo! Arrest her!" Before the soldiers could move, Finn held up his hand to stop them. "We will hear Princess Blargetha's proposal," he announced.

With those words, the room erupted, and it wasn't Bonnie alone shouting. Hurletta groaned. She'd told her sister to come up with something, and she had indeed. Unfortunately, Blargetha's lack of social skills had just made selling her own idea an uphill struggle. Hurletta would gleefully have wrung her neck if there weren't already a dozen spears pointed at said neck right now. There was nothing for it but to go for the ride now.

Back in the Candy Kingdom, a car sat outside a strip club in the capitol's odd little red-light district. The car–an ultra-lux offroad sedan–had sat out there in the no-parking zone every day that month. Questions got asked. Who owned it? Why was it here? Fanciful johns imagined the pretty face sometimes seen inside was a former stripper who'd made it big by marrying a whale who took her out of the life.

The reality was less romantic and far more sinister. Fedir Brutko thought she was risking her own success. If the harlots who danced in the club really were the King's playthings, there were bound to be watchers. It couldn't have escaped a man who'd seized a dozen kingdoms that his paramours were an achilles heel. By coming back here day after day, and in such a visible manner, they were making themselves an obvious concern for the people who went in and out of that place on a daily basis. Why would someone wealthy be sitting out front of that club?

In the backseat, his evil boss sat ruminating on madness and evil. She was hungry right now. She wanted to hurt the man who killed her brother. She wanted to see him suffer a little because right now it seemed like he was riding high. She had her plans to inflict massive damage to the Candy Kingdom. There were troops poised within striking distance of the palace waiting on her signal. Still, with no Peihong to temper her rasher impulses, she'd been considering a quick action to let the so-called King of Ooo know she was still in the game.

The whores in the club didn't have anything more than a withered old banana guarding them. It would be so easy to just slip in, slit some throats, and leave a nice note for their most famous customer. Her fingers flexed, as she thought of cutting off the tits of the curvy one, Riley. He'd rescued that worthless whore. Long ago. Now he'd impregnated her. What would he say when he received those fat knockers of hers in a gift-wrapped box?

"I was able to move the last one-hundred men into place last night," Fedir announced. Chelsea's face snapped up. He could see he had her attention. That was the important thing. She was about to do something stupid that would get them hung–that would get _him_ hung–and he wasn't having that today. Fedir kept her attention fixed on him, declaring, "I've distributed enough phones to be able to run the operation. We're as ready as we're going to be."

The murderess glanced away, her eyes going to the coffee shop where they'd had breakfast yesterday. She took a deep breath, then another. Fedir waited, poised between death and salvation. "Let's go to the hotel," she said. "I want to look at our preparations again." Fedir didn't let himself relax. He wouldn't relax until they were away from here, and his insane master was firmly steered away from whatever rash idea was rattling around in her head just now.

As Fedir drove the Wax-Hustler away from the scene of her murder-fantasy, Sarah Mertens cornered her best friend in a remote section of the Jungle Palace. The Royal Audience had dissolved into a storm of anger and pointing fingers. A chorus of voices had called for Blargetha's immediate execution, egged on by Bonnie. A second chorus was interested in turning the slime-princess into a glorified slave–the one _evil_ person allowed to create evil things on Ooo. Why not, she'd already more or less falling into the role. At the height of things, Nadia had just stormed out, shutting off the noise and immediately ending the meeting. Sarah had rushed after her to make sure she was alright.

"Talk to me," Sarah offered. Nadia glared at her instead. Taking her best friend's hand, Sarah twined their fingers together and said, "'c'mon. _I'm_ supposed to be the machine..." She was teasing. The stacked princess blushed. "I'm angry," Nadia muttered. Which Sarah knew. She was trying to address the anger. "I'm not a fan of what he's doing either," the android admitted. "It's not him," muttered Nadia. She sounded defensive, which wasn't the point. Sarah gave her a carefully neutral expression.

Blowing out a breath, the buxom princess said, "he's... he's right. He's right, and I can see that he's right..." Which words had Sarah puzzled on a number of levels. Finn was toying with damnation. The Peace of Ooo existed for a reason. "The Peace...," Nadia muttered. "The Peace exists to preserve Ooo..." When Sarah rolled her eyes at the obvious nature of that statement, Nadia said, "you're missing the point, Sarah. The Peace exists to protect us from each other. To prevent us from finishing the job of wrecking the world..." When Sarah might have thrown that back in her face, the cyborg said, "...but that's not the problem... not anymore."

It didn't take long. Sarah's mind replayed the conversation–sifting the words. "Why are you angry, then," Sarah sighed. "If you understand..." "I'm not angry at _him_," the cyborg growled. "I'm angry at _myself_!" Shaking her head and muttering curses, "I'm... I'm a princess. I'm responsible for millions of lives. Two million of my people. I've... I've tried to be a steward in the mold of my father and his father and his mother... back generations..." "...but the world changed," Sarah murmured with a nod. She saw it now. Nadia was having trouble reconciling the pretty principles of pacifism with the ugly reality that there were forces out there in the universe that wanted to smash Ooo to steal an apocalyptic force, to be used in a war that the people of Ooo had no part or place in. There was nothing pacifism could do about that.

When Nadia might have pulled away, whether to run off or just hide her face, Sarah held on. "Don't you think Finn understands that," the android murmured? That was when the tears began to fall. He did. Nadia _knew_ he did. Finn had come to rely on the odious Princess Blargetha for the ugly things that made his job possible. He had to rely on someone untrustworthy because his wives' principles wouldn't let _them_ do things that were needed. Nadia was ashamed of not being more supportive.

Absorbing that, the android girl opined, "but there are other ways we can support him, babe." When her friend glanced her way, Sarah reminded her, "why do you think he asked for ways to use the uranium to run a town? We call it death-metal out of prejudice. It's..." "...inanimate," Nadia rumbled. It was simply nuclear material that could be used any number of ways. Her people maintained dozens of reactors across their domain–small reactors that did everything from generating the fuel to run their airships to keeping the ugly wilderness at bay.

The busty princess drew a deep breath, and Sarah knew that Nadia had just come to a conclusion–the right one this time. "You could have just said that," the cyborg accused. "You had to come to it on your own," the android replied. "Otherwise, I'd just be bludgeoning you, and you'd go stubborn on me." Nadia threw her long arms around the robot-girl and hugged her, as they both laughed and laughed.

On the far side of the palace, Finn the King was addressing the other unhappy member of his coalition. Bonnie had held her peace all the way back to private quarters. She'd let Finn lead her out of earshot. She was getting better about that. They were no longer publicly airing the family's internal laundry, and for that he was grateful. It gave him hope that he could wrangle this thing long-term. Still, it was clear that Bonnie was _not happy_ about this latest development, even when she'd gone much farther in a much shorter length of time. Of course, that may well have been the problem. Finn knew Bonnie still felt a weight of guilt for disturbing the peace and maybe pushing Wildberry over the edge.

The tall princess waited for Finn to shut the door before starting in on him, but when she did, she went straight for the throat. "I don't understand, Finn," Bonnie murmured. "You used to be a man who rejected evil..." She was trying to cushion the accusation by speaking softly, not that it didn't sting. She was calling him evil.

The unhappy emperor chuckled humorlessly. "But _power_ is evil, Peebles," Finn replied. "_All_ power is evil. It's... It's like an acid... It _dissolves_ your morals. I accepted power to try to protect everything I care about. I'm facing down the death of my morals, but I'm facing it with my eyes open. You want to dunk morality in the tank, scuff the paint, and pretend like you did what needed to be done, but you took a bath in evil a long time ago when you put your hands on power."

In bitter tones, the big man remarked, "I'm... Peebles we're _drowning_ in evil. I can't pretend not to see it. I have the power of life and death. I don't want this power. I don't want it at all..." Far from tasting sweet the way Bandit Princess and her kind thought, power tasted like the bitterest ash to seasoned lips. Arms flailing, Bonnie snapped, "then _why_, Finn?! Why keep going further?!"

"Power, Peebles," he replied. "Not my power, but the power _they_ have..." He was pointing at the sky. She didn't understand. Her face said so. "Something Nadia said, Peebles," he said. "Those guys... They can cross the whole of space... to come here and steal a monster. They raided our mother world like I used to raid old tombs. They did it a century before you were born, PB. Can _you_ build a ship that can do that?" The older woman's face took on a look of utter horror at the sheer _scale_ of what he was suggesting. In his simple way–the way of a man who couldn't begin to comprehend the scale of a _galaxy_–Finn Mertens had just reminded her what they were up against. It was the End of Everything. Double or Nothing. Hero or Zero. Against what the aliens could muster, even mushroom bombs seemed like nothing.

In an emotionless tone that spoke volumes, Bonnibel Bubblegum announced, "I will withdraw my formal complaint..." Taking her in his arms, Finn the Human said, "no. Let the complaint and the King's answer stand so those who come after us understand why we made these choices." Bonnie sobbed, "I wish he'd never come back..." He knew who she meant. Rocking with her, Finn said, "I have no regrets, Poibles. I was ready to give everything to save the peeps I love. I just didn't know what _everything_ meant..."

Bonnie choked back a sob, as she thought about his attempt to destroy the Lich by sacrificing himself. He wasn't being poetic like so many old boyfriends had been. He'd literally given all he had and more–even unto his children. Yet, here she was, doubting him. Regaining her composure, the tall princess broke that embrace. Stepping back, she said, "corrosive. The word you were looking for earlier is corrosive. Your insight continues to surprise me."

Taking his battered face in her hands, the curvy princess showered kisses on him before finally turning to go. Crossing the room, she did that thing girls do to make their butts dance. It was the first she'd _ever_ done that as far as Finn could remember, and it left him all but drooling. That butt had been amazing when he met her, but three kids had given Peebles an ass to rival Simone and Betty's apple-bottoms. At the door, she glanced back to see if he was watching before walking out the door. Yup. Still there. Wiping lipstick off his face, Finn headed off to find Nadia. He had another apology to make.

Of course, finding his cyborg fuck-beast ended up being a lot harder than he'd imagined, and honestly, as he tracked the buxom princess through the warren of halls that was the Jungle Palace, the big man found himself a little worried that he'd pushed too far. By that point, the peeps in the throne room were calling him back, and he had to rush back to the audience chamber. Arriving at the dais, the big man found himself coming face to face with the missing cyborg, as he found Nadia waiting there alongside the rest with Sarah at her side. It was a hopeful sign. She was there, and she didn't look angry at him.

Indeed, no sooner had his butt touched the throne, than Nadia and Sarah both stepped forward, saying, "we would like to present the King with an adjunct proposal..." "A _second_ proposal," Sarah clarified. Finn blushed. Yeah, he was the dummy, but he owned his mistakes. "Ok," he said. "Hopefully no Finns will be injured in this proposal..." "Da," Nadia agreed, "the King can keep his balls." Which had everybody laughing.

Drawing one of her people's holographic projectors from a pocket, the stacked Royal toggled it on, showing a heavy cylindrical object. Finn recognized it immediately. He'd seen them in every Grid-Face Person village in the east. "That's...," he started to say. "A heavy-water reactor," Nadia interrupted. "It's intentionally designed to use natural uranium fuel instead of bomb-grade material... That would let us... dilute Jungle Kingdom's dangerous material into something less potent. With the material Abieuwa has on hand, we could build sufficient numbers of these units to power half of Ooo for a couple of centuries and have plenty to spare for... other uses."

Finn's mind went back to the ugly conversation in the onsen. Peihong came from a world of want. The world she lived in shared none of the prosperity his world had. But he could fix that. Nadia had just given him a way to fix that. Taking his left hand in hers, Bonnie said, "but the Grid-Face Princess must show us a way to protect the units, Your Majesty." Finn's face snapped up. Bonnie knew where his mind was going. Once she got herself past the anger of feeling betrayed by the man she loved and let herself think again, she knew exactly where Finn was going with this whole business. It was everything she expected of her husband–looking out for the well-being of others, even those he didn't know.

"The people of the wastes need our help, beloved," she said, "but they need guidance too. We're at risk of the first petty despot to come along taking over one of these units and using it to further his own schemes. Building weapons... only on a grand scale instead of handfuls." Finn sighed, but he knew she was right. He wanted to provide the means for the people of the wastes to build themselves a civilization–where they didn't have to look to the kingdoms for aid. Somebody might, just might, take that opportunity to build destruction instead. "Ok," he said, "add that to the proposal, Your Highness. We need fail-safes to protect these power-sources from misuse... that means providing a means to turn them off from a distance." Nadia pondered that a moment. "Da," she agreed. "We can do that. I think we have a way forwar..."

Just then, there was a flash of light, and a puff of green smoke. Momentarily, two familiar figures were standing in the center of the room next to Nadia and Sarah. Shooting to his feet, Finn shouted, "Dr. Beto!" The shaman greeted him with, "que pasa, Finn." "What're you doing here, bro," the King asked, as he stepped off the dais. The two men clasped hands and exchanged a firm handshake, as Blanca glared at the big man. Seeing that his princess wasn't much interested in pleasantries, the witch-doctor moved on. Gesturing, Beto Cortez said, "Her Highness here has made a discovery, Finn." Finn turned to Blanca and said, "lemme' guess. Bandit Princess raided the sacred site..." The Coca Princess swore at him.

Beto said, "the sacred site is devastated, amigo. There was some kind of explosion. Some of the ancient structures were flattened. We've... I think there were slaves held there, and some of them are..." "Dead," Finn muttered. Turning to the court, the King declared, "the court is adjourned. This is for private session. Princess Bonnibel, Princess Nadia, and Princess Blargetha... attend. Bill? Please close the session and join us as soon as you can."

**Finn the King now has the uranium on lockdown, and is working out how to get use it up... just in time to discover Bandit Princess's attempt to build missiles. And it looks like Chelsea is about to go all in.**


	43. Chapter 43

Chapter 43:

"I think Coca Kingdom's sacred site might have been used to launch death-rockets," Finn announced.

You could have heard a pin drop at that pronouncement. Bonnie had never visited Blanca's kingdom. She'd been in the western kingdoms during her wanderlust period... centuries ago. There had been little to speak of in the north and even less in the south. Bonnie, with Marceline's help, had raided a couple of ancient sites, pulling together bits of technology and securing knowledge to advance her own mind. Even having been born more or less fully-formed, Bonnie had hungered for knowledge. Still, in the ruin that had been the world she was born in, travel wasn't easy. She'd never visited the southern continents, going only as far as the eastern portion of what had eventually become Deer Kingdom. Even after she'd built the Candy Kingdom and begun taking steps towards forming the Privy Council, she'd never deigned to travel so far.

Her eyes flicked to her husband, and she thought of the dark space he'd been in not very long ago. She'd been part and parcel of that. She and Marceline had both shit on him, and, if she really looked at their relationship, she'd have to admit she'd maybe kinda' kicked him while he was down a couple of times too. Was it any wonder he'd wanted to be anywhere but the Candy Kingdom when he turned seventeen? He'd wandered. He'd wandered far to the west, fighting his own terror of the sea. He'd gone as far west as the western ocean. On foot. Shockingly, Finn had become cosmopolitan, while _she_ had become stagnant.

"What did you see," she asked? It came out in a sort of worried tone. It was different than the words that came to Blargetha's mouth. She would have said, "what do you mean?" Bonnie clearly was past the shock. She wanted the deets. The big man asked for paper, and the chamberlain rushed out and retrieved paper and pencils. And then Finn began to draw. He'd been in the sacred site with a younger, fitter Blanca. The young Coca Princess wanted to impress the pale-faced foreigner, and she'd shown him the forbidden temples of the sky-gods.

The big man drew and drew, shaping wondrous sights from memory. _Nanobugs_, thought Hurletta. _It's the _machine_ in him._ "There are other temples in the jungles," Finn said, as he drew what he'd seen. "They're... older... They're not in as good a shape. This stuff... It reminded me of the candy-steel and the cement from Candy Kingdom..." He drew machinery and relics of his people's lost world–things that Blargetha knew from her own delvings into the past. "That's a launching stand," she muttered. "I think these other things might be propellant tanks." She'd built her first rocket and had to fill the tank by hand, but she'd done sketches of the very things that Finn was describing.

Blanca alternately bristled at the suggestion that her people's sacred place was devoted to death and squirmed at the idea that she'd simply walked away and let a stranger use it as she pleased. She'd marched the army–all the temple guards included–to the west for a war on her neighbor. She'd done it against this man's advice, pursuing what she knew was a grudge against a woman who'd managed to hold onto some of her beauty. "This is how they planned to deliver the bomb Junior stole death-metal for," Nadia muttered. It was a _sobering_ reminder of the risks they had labored under. As the world rediscovered its collective past, the risk went _up_. It was going up _dramatically_ with each passing year as more Blargethas were born.

Cutting to the chase, Abieuwa rumbled, "alright... What's our risk? I mean... We can never trust that the Legacy is safe again..." "Don't lose heart," Finn said. "If it means stationing one of the weapon-containers here permanently, that's what we'll do. If we build another Tesla-machine for the Legacy, that can be a thing too. We're going to move forward, babe. We're going to fix this." His eyes turned to Blanca, and the fat woman flinched. She knew what was coming. She'd heard stories of what had been going on with Jungle Kingdom. Beto the Witch-Doctor put a firm hand on his princess's shoulder. She had brought this on by her actions. That was the past. The future would be protecting their people's grand dream from evil use.

"You built them a rocket," Hurletta rumbled. It came out as almost an accusation. "A small one," Blargetha retorted. "I... I was buying time." She was shading things–maybe to duck sanction for what she'd done. That was the past. "How much do they have," Nadia asked? "That rocket of yours... it flew..." "I sketched things," Blargetha admitted, "but the equations... all the money-math was in my head. She has nothing. I'm guessing... I'd say she just tried to take what I'd built and just make it bigger." The Grid-Face Princess snorted in derision. You couldn't just 'make it bigger' with a rocket and expect it to move!

"Pr'olly why it blew up," Finn murmured. Moving on, Finn got down to business. They'd ducked catastrophe, and they'd had no idea. They really needed to get their arms around this before things got worse. Peihong was still out there with her bags and bundles of deadly weapons from ages past. She had fuel to make a mushroom bomb, could she just find the knowledge to do it. More sobering thought, there was a great possibility that she had the kidnaped sages from Bonnie's science academy to help her. Likely they'd tried to take Blargetha's sketches and scale them up to something bigger. It was a matter of _when_ not _if_ they succeeded.

Just then, Billy came in. "Meeting's adjourned, dad," he announced. "They're scared..." "Which is why I'm sending you west to Coca Kingdom," Finn replied. The younger man frowned at him. Nodding, Bonnie agreed, "it will set the precedent that the Ice-Prince is the King's voice..." "Wait," Billy complained. "I'm... my family..." Abieuwa shook her head, warning him off.

"My sister here built them a rocket, William," Hurletta declared. Billy's head snapped first to the older slime princess and then to the younger sister who gave him a sheepish wave. "Coca Kingdom's deadly legacy is a rocket-launching base, William," Nadia said. The pieces fell into place just like that. Billy's eyes flicked to his dad. "The move of the nuclear fuel," Billy started to say. "Fionna will take care of it," Finn replied. "This is more important. In the right now, since I failed to get Bandit Princess to back down, I need to be working the council. I can't go on another chase." There were larger decisions that needed to get made. Some of them would test the Privy Council's patience. Billy had been holding his own, but these treacherous bitches weren't easy to keep under control.

Defeated, Billy gave over, and Finn moved business onward. "Nadia," he said, "I know I've put a lot on you..." "You need me to go over and look at this rocket base," she said. "I'm on it." "I could go," Blargetha offered. Every face there glared at her. "Or... I could go back to work on the defense rockets," she muttered. The meeting broke up, with Nadia and Sarah latching onto either of Blargetha's wrists with superhuman strength. The pair stepped off, all but dragging the younger slime princess down the hall, ostensibly to pick her brain on what she'd given the Bandit Princess. Billy was next. He had to hand off his current job to Fi and break the bad news to his family. Anders especially was going to be upset.

Turning to her husband, Bonnie said, "I'd better go and meet with the council, babe... keep them under control..." She gave him a kiss that held all her passion, pinching his ass for good measure. Brushing his face with the tips of her fingers, the tall princess turned and strode out. Shit, that ass was nice. Clearing her throat, Hurletta announced that she was still present. Finn glanced to her, remembering that the last he'd seen her, he'd basically slipped off in the night after screwing her. His face went red hot.

Strolling up to him, broad hips wig-wagging sensually, the older sister reached up with a handkerchief and daubed Bonnie's lipstick off his face, which did nothing to alleviate his blush. As he tried to come up with something–_anything_, really–to say, 'Letta showed him just what was on her mind, as she shoved him down on the chair and straddled his thighs. "Welcome home, hero," she breathed, just before gluing her lips to his.

Billy arrived at Fi's quarters to find his sister up and about. He hadn't seen much of her. Upon getting his ass out of bed, he'd immediately found himself in the fire, and he'd been a little worried. O had assured him that Fionna was fine, but it was good to see that for himself. "Hey," she greeted him. She was sitting in front of a pile of books, and that immediately had him puzzled. "Ok," he said, "what gives?"

"I spent most of my life being a dummy," Fionna declared. "Now I'm in line to sit on that throne. Being a dummy doesn't cut it when people depend on you." She was faking. Ironically, she was faking being dumb right now, and they both knew it. She was doing it to spare his feelings. At the same time... she was right. He knew she was right. Hadn't their dad said it? Finn the Human no longer had space to just bull into things like a force of nature. Too many people stood to be hurt. Some could get hurt dead.

The big man sat himself. "What'd you come down for," Fi murmured, as Billy took a gander at the heavy, heavy stuff she was reading. Physics. She was looking at books on physics. His mind went to the Wall, and all the angst from their time there. It was crazy to think of it, but Fionna had built the Wall all on instinct without understanding a lick of the physics that made it work. She'd made a construct that could flash-fry anybody dumb enough to get within a couple-hundred feet of the thing. She'd made it hundreds of miles long through act of her will alone. It made him giddy to think of just how awesome his sister really was.

Taking her hand, the big man gave it a squeeze, causing her face to snap up to his. "I'm headed west," he rumbled. Fionna frowned. "Coca Kingdom," Billy sighed. "I..." "...need me to look after this place," she finished. "Ok." Sitting up, the curvy blonde asked, "what's going on in Coca Kingdom?" "Bandit Princes... she somehow figured out what Coca Kingdom's Deadly Legacy is, Fi," Billy replied. That _was_ news. "What is it," she asked," and how can I help?" "It may be a rocket-launching base," Billy said. Fi's breath caught. She saw it immediately. "Just look after this place," Billy said. "Nadia's bringing in some of Rattleballs' war-robots. They'll be here in a few days. We'll be moving the nuke fuel after that."

Fionna nodded. Sitting up, she fastened her long arms around his shoulders and kissed him, saying, "be careful, big brother Bill. Lots of peeps would miss you if you were gone." Billy flushed. He was going to have to disappoint some of those peeps tonight. "She understands," Fionna murmured. Resting a hand on his shoulder, his too-wise sister said, "I've seen the way she looks at you, bro. She knows what you have to do." Wrinkling her nose, Fionna said, "it's those other dingbats that are the problem." Billy found himself laughing out loud at the uncharitable way she'd described Abieuwa and Noemi.

Rising, Billy turned to go, remembering an ancient piece of literature his grandmother had tried to make him read. _'These are the times that try men's souls,'_ he thought, and he knew it was true. "You... you should call Patrick," he said. "I think this is going to get a bit worse before it gets better," he said. She might not be seeing husband or kids for a while. Fionna gave him a look that said, 'teach your granny to suck eggs'. In a dismissive tone, she said, "I told him to go get some relief at the club daddy used to go to when moms were being ungrateful shits. I'd say you could do the same, but... well, the plump one might not be able to keep her hands to herself..." She even wrinkled her cute nose when she said it as if in disgust. Billy laughed out loud. He was still chuckling when he got to Ragnhild's quarters.

No sooner had he opened the door than Anders was rushing him. "Poppy," he burbled, "I heard you have to go..." His voice dripped disappointment and pain. Snatching him up, the big man hugged him. Abieuwa had beaten him here. "I'm sorry, son," he said. Hugging the boy, he said, "we didn't catch the bad woman. Grampa tried, but he couldn't catch her..." "Grampa's gettin' old," Anders complained. Chuckling, Billy said, "well, kiddo... that's kinda' why I have to go. I'm still young." The little boy's face brightened, and he actually laughed. Staring his stepson in the eye, Billy said, "need you to look after mom and your brother and sisters, ok?" Anders promised that he would.

Ragnhild came out of the back of her quarters. Billy gave her a smile. Likely she'd be flying home in the morning, while he flew onwards to Coca Kingdom. It sucked. He wanted to scream at his father. At the same time, he knew the older man was right. Billy mouthed, "I love you." They had tonight together.

The following day, the Royal whirlwind blew back out of the Jungle Kingdom just as quickly as it had blown in. Packs of princesses headed off to the landing field and the port, boarding boats and airships just as they'd arrived. An anxious Billy stood watching as the airships left one by one, while he tried to spend as much time as he could with his family. He had another daughter and two sons on the way, and he wasn't happy to be leaving Rags and Abieuwa especially. Anders, in a clear sign that he was growing, was quite the little man today, fetching things for his sisters and brother and doing anything his mom asked of him with (mostly) no complaints.

Finally, there was no more time to delay. The airship had to go. Exchanging one last embrace with his two wives, the big man turned, stooped, and gave Anders a hug. "Bye-bye, poppy," the boy said. "I'll be good. I'll take care of things..." Tousling his hair, Billy said, "I know you will, son. See you soon." Then he turned and went up the ramp. Taking her son by the hand, Ragnhild the Frozen Yogurt Princess immediately turned to walk away. Abieuwa was, as usual, a beat late. Squaring up, she gathered up her daughter and turned to follow.

Across the field, the King of Ooo was also boarding an airship. At his side were Simone, Cherry, Breezy, and Bronwyn. Waiting aboard the aircraft in a forcefield containment was Jake Jr. with Drew at her side. "Doc," Finn greeted his wife. Turning to his brother's daughter, Finn said, "I'm happy to see you alive, Jake." Which was pretty damned far from where the shapechanger thought they were. Squatting before the cell, the big man asked, "anything you want me to tell your mom and dad?" Glancing away, the hybrid rumbled, "nothing... I... nothing..." "It'll wait," Finn said, as he gathered himself to his feet once more. "When you're able..." It was just like she _hadn't_ tried to murder his son.

The big man headed forward, with Drew stepping off after the pack, leaving Bronwyn there with her aunt. A hostile Jr. growled, "what're _you_ looking at?" "One of the family fuck-ups," Bronwyn muttered before she too turned and stalked off. Jake Jr. stared after her, shocked at that reaction. That was the reaction she'd been expecting from Finn and Simone. Heading forward, Bronwyn arrived at the passenger lounge at the front of the airship just in time to have the door shut in her face. It appeared that a family conference was going on, and she wasn't invited.

The ship came wafting down out of the sky in a driving rain. It was the kind of storm that made Bronwyn nervous. She didn't much like this whole _flying_ thing. She was never more grateful than when the wheels were finally on the ground. The airship crew taxied the thing slowly over to the vehicles waiting there for the passengers, getting as close as they could. Simone covered the rest herself. As the family descended the ramp, the Ice Queen conjured a canopy of ice, bridging the gap to the limousines.

Thor was waiting on them, holding the door for the Royal Family. His expression suggested he had news. As Finn came within earshot, the giant announced, "we've got our troops in position, sire. Preparations are ready." Those words from the Captain of the Guard were a little ominous to Bronwyn. Before she could ask or even say a word, a soldier was taking her by the arm and bundling her into a second car. Behind them, a heavily armed force of soldiers took custody of Jake Juniors' prison.

As the motorcade roared through the night, bound for the Candy Palace, Thor caught his master up on goings on. "She's got something like four-thousand men, scattered across the Candy Kingdom," the big man announced. Cherry whistled. That was a lot. Of course, her smirk told Finn there was another shoe waiting to drop. "Three-thousand, nine-hundred, and twenty," she said, when her husband asked the question. Thor's eyes widened. Nodding, the little crime-boss said, "she's been trying to recruit from the underworld. I have eighty men in key places..." Nodding, the Captain of the Guard said, "if you give me the names and descriptions, I'll endeavor not to kill them."

It was about to get very real. The Wax-Hustler had infiltrated three hundred men to the opera-house, within spitting distance of the palace. Thor had been slowly beefing up the defenses for days. "She doesn't know," the big man rumbled. Finn gave him a look that showed doubt. "Candy's been in their base," Thor admitted. "That's dangerous, Thor," Simone growled. "We were careful," Thor insisted. "I needed the help. I needed to sell the story that all the troops are out at the wall." "Alright for now," Simone allowed.

Star was waiting on them when they rolled into the palace. "All members of the Royal Family are pretty much on lockdown," she announced. "I've informed the Vampire King of what's coming... just in case." "Precautions for the Crowned Heads of Ooo," Simone asked? "We've done what we could," Thor said. They couldn't trust some of them. It was what it was. "Ingrid reports that the wall is secure," Star continued. "She's got troops dug in at the gap." Checking his watch, Thor said, "if you'll all come this way..." It was getting close to time for their nasty friends to come visiting.

The soldier-turned-gangster-turned soldier led them to Bonnie's Situation Room. Finn found himself remembering the first time he'd been here. Lemongrab had been creepin' on peeps–sneaking into their homes and staring at them. He wasn't sure what weirded him out more–the fact that Bonnie had cameras in peeps' homes, or the fact that Lemongrab was sneaking in and out of peeps homes. As Captain of the Guard, he'd abolished all the cameras–an act that had sent Bonnie ballistic. He'd shut her down by threatening to install one in her bedroom and broadcast the goings-on all over the Kingdom.

They'd compromised in the end. The cameras in sensitive places were still up. There were cameras at the bus-stops. There were cameras on the trams. There were cameras in Gumbald Square. At the same time, the average candy-person could go into their homes and be away from all the watching eyes. Now, Thor began to pull up the various camera-views, and the family settled in to watch and wait. In the middle of all the frantic preparations, Maja came in, carrying a bag of popcorn of all things. Heedless of Breezy's staring, the Sky-Witch sat herself on Finn's lap.

And that was when the whole thing began.

It was almost as if Maja had slipped the disk into the holo-player. As the family watched, the wax-hustler's _soldiers_ came swarming out of the opera-house. Behind them, Cherry's confederates bolted the doors, locking them _out_ of the opera-house. They wouldn't be returning to hole up inside and risk the destruction of one of Bonnie's treasures. Curling up on Finn's lap, Maja began to munch noisily on popcorn, as the whole business unfolded. "Shhhh," Cherry hissed, as the thugs came rushing up on the palace. Not that it at all stopped Maja from munching–or snuggling.

On the screen the enemy soldiers rushed the gates, finding them already locked and barred–with hundreds of heavily armed guards on the walls above. That was the first surprise. The soldiers stood there a moment, perplexed, as the guards poured fire down on them. Still, they were game. Several members rushed forward with heavy packages that Finn guessed were explosives. Setting them in place, one man blew himself up on the spot. They could hear the tremendous blast from inside the palace and feel the ground shake. "Ooooh," Maja crowed. "Good sound!" "Shhh," Simone hissed her. The Sky-Witch offered the popcorn bag to Simone, who declined.

A second explosion rang out–this one more successful–and then a third. They were going off a little prematurely, and Finn's eyes flicked to Cherry, who smiled by way of answer. They hadn't really asked about where the explosives came from. Bonnie's old chemistry experiments in the wastelands weren't very stable, obviously. "Oooh," Maja squealed, around a mouthful of popcorn as the thugs rushed the one hole in the gate. The enemy soldiers piled up there in the opening, finding a second, temporary wall set up behind the first.

The slaughter was tremendous. It was almost sickening watching his troops mow down Chelsea's thugs. Now the thugs began to stream away in a panic, causing Maja to complain that the show was over too quick. Their perfect setup was shattered. Thor, working the control console, switched the video feeds. "Oooh," squealed the Sky-Witch! "This one! This one!" There were hundreds of thugs attacking the powerplant out in the wilds south of Chocago. It was one of Chelsea's better efforts, apparently, with what looked like two hundred men on hand.

As Finn and Simone watched grimly–and Cherry and Maja kibitzed–the two-hundred soldiers ran headlong into a meat-grinder. Breezy squirmed in her chair, watching the slaughter as the thugs attacked and attacked and attacked again, goaded on by their fear of the evil woman who ruled them. They had no hope or chance, really. Thor had been working on this ambush of the ambush for _weeks_, slowly bleeding the army away at the Wall and moving bits and pieces of it to prime spots where he knew the enemy was going to attack.

The scene was repeated over and over again over the next couple of hours, with one band after another meeting an ugly fate as they encountered not the cakewalk that they'd been promised but a meat-grinder instead. While Maja and Cherry laughed and chuckled at the grim fates meted out, Finn began to grow increasingly uneasy. They were winning and handily. Trouble was, what would happen when Chelsea realized she'd been tricked? Peihong had said she was crazy–even psychotic. At the height of the battle in the streets, the big man turned to his Captain of the Guard and asked, "did you take any measures to look after the women in the Men's Club on Fifth Street?"

Cherry's mouth shut in mid-guffaw, and Thor and Simone both spun to face him. It was obvious that Thor hadn't even thought of them. They weren't Royals, after all. Simone glanced at her husband and blushed to her hair as she suddenly remembered his words from months ago. She'd involved Teri and Riley in their ugly world. Finn blipped himself out from under Maja, depositing her on the chair he'd just left. "W-where," Maja burbled, as the big man strode for the door? Simone caught her hand, whispering at her to wait. There was still danger to their family, and Finn had to go get things squared away.

Indeed, miles away, Fedir Brutko stood watching as his mistress went on a tear. She was in full-on meltdown. New from the field wasn't good. Somehow the enemy had figured out what was going on. They had soldiers waiting on her men at every location they'd planned to hit. The power-station. The palace. The train station. The army was _everywhere_. More to the point, they were clearly well prepared, stocked with piles of weapons and ammunition to withstand a siege. "Somebody talked," Chelsea shrieked! "Fucking Kim! He must've talked! I'm going to eat his liver! I'll kill his bitch! I'll do that fucking kid! They're all gonna' fucking _die_!"

Fedir weathered the gale, as she grew increasingly agitated, shrieking about things she was going to do. She was going to make Kim Kil Wan's wife guest-of-honor in a snuff movie. She was going to feed his daughter to a dragon. She wanted him to _suffer_! The thug maintained his distance and calm, even though he was terrified. He'd intended to be elsewhere. He'd intended to be _leading_ the fight. That would have been his cover to slip away. She'd held him back here. Of all her henchmen, she'd held _Fedir_ back.

The nasty witch stopped in mid-rant, and Fedir feared that she now realized he was saying nothing. Turning to face him, calm returned to her face–like fading ripples on a now-still pond. "Do we have any men left," she asked? "Twenty," he replied, "just your bodyguards, lady." She _had_ gone all in after all. "I'm going to get something out of this," she growled. "Shouldn't you flee," Fedir asked? "If Kim has revealed you..." Her eyes blazed, and he feared he was on the edge of death. Her breast rose and fell. She was warring with her sense of self-preservation and her rage at the people who'd killed her beloved brother. "Take me to my hotel," she said. "Send the men to the club. Bring me the heads of those bitches."

Finn was tearing through the streets in a Banana-Guard truck, alone but for his unhappy bodyguard when Patrick called. He'd been calling Riley on and off on the phone and getting nothing, which was causing him to get increasingly wound up. Seeing Betty's son on the line, the big man frowned. All of his family was supposed to be hunkered down. Why was Patrick calling? Flicking the phone on, he muttered, "go."

"Finn," Patrick greeted his father-in-law. "I'm down here at that bar... one you asked me to look in on." Finn sat up straighter. "Yeah," he rumbled? "Twenty dudes just came in," Patrick said. "They look rough." "On my way," Finn replied. Stepping on the gas, the King swerved into oncoming traffic, flicking on the lights and siren. In the midst of trying to talk Patrick through what actions he was to take, the younger man finally said, "uh... I gotta' go."

Down in Riley's Club, four of the men who'd come in drew guns. They were all out of time. As the cupcake girl on the stage screamed, Patrick enfolded two of the men in a cylinder of ice. That surprised the thugs, who were focused on the terrified bouncer in the corner. Time slowed down just then. Patrick hurled ice-daggers at the first two men to glance his way, as the other men shot the bouncer dead-center, laying him out. The fight went sideways then, with the barkeep hefting an illegal shogtun and shooting one of the assailants in the head, splitting the thugs' fire three ways.

It was a crazy scene with johns scrambling for safety, even knocking down the dancers to get away. Some rushed the toilets. Some rushed the windows. Many rushed for the back, getting tangled up with naked and half-naked girls who were trying to escape the men bent on murdering them. Patrick stood his ground, finding his center in the middle of a whirlwind of violence. Moving deliberately to throw off their aim, using tables and chairs for concealment, the young wizard took the thugs on one man at a time. He was going to die here. He thought he was going to die here. It felt that way. There were enough of them that he didn't think he had a chance.

Just as the bandits were getting the range, a force of nature came tearing into the room. Finn the Human sawed off the hands of the man in the back–the guy who was directing traffic. It was lightning fast, and he was already moving onwards. A second man's head left his shoulders. Not that Patrick got much room to breath. The men at the front of the pack were still focused on him. Feinting that he was going to run out towards the bar, the young man turned and ran the other direction, dodging fire as he went with steel darts tearing through couches millimeters from his face.

The fight didn't last much longer after that. With Finn and his bodyguard rolling up behind them, the remaining bandits were swiftly cut down. Patrick found himself standing amidst the carnage facing his father-in-law, all thoughts of rubbing one out forgotten. "You ok," Finn asked? His voice was cold. Patrick gulped down his fear. He was talking to The Machine. "I'm ok," he said. Turning to go, the big man said, "gather up the girls. Take them to the palace. Send for doctors for the injured." "Uh, where are you going...," Patrick murmured? "To finish this," Finn replied.

Chelsea the Wax Hustler had gone back to the posh hotel-suite that Kim Kil Wan had provided her. Far from rushing to gather up her things, she'd loafed about, taking her time. Her henchman wanted to be gone, but she had hopes of hearing _something_ from the hit-team sent to that club. She wanted to leave with something. She'd put him off. She'd sent him to go and stash the car, while she took a shower and changed.

As the moments crawled by, she glanced again and again to the phone on the toilet. It wasn't ringing. It didn't ring, and the silence was deafening. Fedir had warned her. He'd reminded her again and again what a man like her opponent was capable of. Would a man like Finn the Human have left even his playthings alone? Fedir was the voice of reason–the angel on her shoulder counseling her away from rash thinking. She should have listened.

Standing under the water, turning slowly into a prune wasn't helping. Climbing out of the shower, she toweled off, gathered on some fresh underwear, and prepared to get out of here. It was past time she was gone. She didn't really want to admit it, but fucking Peihong was right. This gambit was a failure. It was time to retrench and maybe mend fences.

Coming out of the bathroom, Chelsea came face to face with her mortal enemy and stopped stock still. He was sitting there on the chair at the foot of the bed, dressed in an expensive silk suit like the King he claimed to be. He made that suit look so good, and a corner of her thought he wore that suit better than her brother ever could have. Stepping into the light wearing a bathrobe, the little murderess burbled, "I thought it would be one of her killers..." Finn shrugged and said, "this is personal, isn't it...?" Chelsea's face flushed minutely.

Nodding, the King of Ooo said, "I knew all along, Chelsea. I suspected from the first I saw you on the stage. Wax-people aren't so common on the mainland that I should be running into two." Her eyes went wide, and he could see her doing the calculations. "W-why," she stammered? "Did I go to your room," he asked? He gave her a shrug and a smile before admitting, "I did need somebody to talk to. This job sucks. It isn't anything like you or your pal are thinking." Her face went red hot, and he knew she was wavering over into female outrage. Somehow it was far better for a man to think only in terms of poking you with his pecker than to have him basically say he was only there for the conversation.

Calmly, Finn told her, "you aren't the first to try to get me in bed to turn around and try to fuck me over, Chelsea. Ironically, I married both your predecessors. Learned a lot from the pair of them, though. Like how not to think with your balls." They were coming down to brass tacks now. She began circling to his left, and he knew she was angling to reach his left arm. "Why come and face me yourself," she asked? "You've got the mob in your pocket, and you've got that bitch's spies too. You could have just put a hit on me." With a shrug, Finn said, "I want you to surrender and come quietly. Your brother's not worth your life, Chelse..."

The change was instantaneous. One moment she was standing there. The next she was slashing the empty air above the chair with her sharp fingernails. Finn was standing behind the chair. "Don'tyoutalkaboutmybrotheryoufuckingbastard," snarled the little murderess! Finn had heard all about how violent she became, ironically from her partner in crime. She lost all sense and went berserk. Ironically, he'd hit on that as the key to defeating her.

"Your brother was a coward," Finn told her. "He was a coward, a swindler, and a thief. I'm ashamed of the few moments I trusted him. He could never have held onto a crown because he had piss for courage." The pint-sized murderess screeched at him, and lunged. Finn easily darted out of her way. Huffing and puffing, she screamed threats at him, but Finn merely smiled back by way of response. "He died as he deserved, Chelsea," he said. "Melted to death. You've got guts. A lot more than he did." Again she tried to claw him, this time slashing his silk jacket. "Not bad," said the King of Ooo. He was just as fast as she'd feared! She was out of breath, and she wanted to tear his lips off with her teeth!

Finn was still speaking, telling her all about her brother's failings and shortcomings. The murderess continued to circle, doing her best to wind down the distance. If she could get one good, deep scratch or a kick with her stiletto shoes... As Finn ticked off the litany of her brother's failings, the little maniac wound up and threw a snap-kick at his face. A clean miss. "You can't win, Chelsea. Stronger opponents than you have tried. The Lich tried it twice. My father brought a fucking alien army. Hell, even _Death_ himself made a run after my neck. I'm going to live to a nice, ripe old age, and there's nothing you can do..." He dodged another kick. "I'll likely live to be two-hundred. You, Chelse? You're going to be in prison. Then you'll be dead..."

"I'll kill you," she howled! "I'll eat your fucking heart!" She went all out, but Finn seemed like he was playing. She had to find a better way. Her eyes darted this way and that, as she huffed and puffed. He had his back to the balcony. Slashing took work. What if she just threw herself at him/on him. She could take him over the railing. She'd be dead, but he'd be dead too.

On his side, Finn could see the calculation in her eyes. She was going to do it. It was just as her partner had said. She was crazy enough to throw her life away to get Finn. All he had to do was goad her a little more. "He took advantage of his own sister," Finn said. "What kind of _man_ does that? He was a sick fuck, and I wish _I'd_ been the one to kill him."

The murderess threw herself at him. He knew the reckoning. She was reckoning that, with his back to the door of the balcony, there was just no way he could escape. There was no way she wouldn't be able to claw him, even if it cost her life too. She was wrong, of course. Time was a funny thing. He was already behind her when she made her leap. It cost him. It cost him quite a lot to make that jump. He could _feel_ the curse's painful bite, and it left him winded. A bunch of his tomorrows had gone up in smoke.

Chelsea hung there from the balcony's elegant wrought-iron railing, poised between life and death. Her eyes danced between her hate and rage and a primal terror. "I'm sorry," Finn said. "I'm sorry for all he did to you and all he _didn't_ do _for_ you. I didn't have a sister... never knew what that was like." His voice was full of pity, and he sounded as if he actually gave a damn. The wax-woman spat curses. "Surrender," he said. "Tell me how to find Peihong. Your crimes are too horrendous to save your soul, but you could buy off some of the worst of the punishment. I could put a good word in for you with the Dark Lord of the Night-O-Sphere." "Fuck you," she spat.

Finn sighed and turned to go. "Wait," she screamed! The big man turned back towards her. His face still held pity, but he was clearly balanced on the edge of returning her spite and then some. "I'll tell," she spat! "Pull me up, and I'll tell." He knew it was a lie when the last words left her lips. She would claw him. She would claw him with her venomed nails and try to take him with her. Her last act–with her last breath–would be to kill him. If she couldn't get Bonnie, she'd kill Finn to hurt the Candy Princess. With a heavy-hearted sigh, he reached down to the little murderess. He needed the information. And that was when Sybil cut Chelsea's hands off at the wrist. As the wax-woman plummeted forty floors to her death, Finn spun to face his other curse.

The grass-demon cussed him. She cussed him a long few minutes. Jabbing him in the chest, she cussed him and cussed him before breaking down into tears. "You know what I am," he sighed, as he gathered her into his arms. "Yes," she howled! "That's the problem! You'd throw everything away! On a whim!" "My life means nothing, if I let my world vanish," he murmured. "I needed to know where Peihong is." "It would have killed you," she spat! He would have used the curse to dodge back through time and duck Chelsea's last strike at him. She slapped him as hard as she could, which was hard enough to knock the spit from his mouth. Pressing her fingers against the shock of white hair at his temples, she closed her eyes.

Finn felt a shock of power course through him. Moments later, he found himself on the floor, with no idea how he'd gotten there. When he looked up, Sybil was holding the robot arm Sarah had built for him. Grimacing in distaste, she cast it aside before reaching out to him. "I can't keep you alive if you insist on burning up your life," she told him. "I can't keep us both going." "I can't promise that I won't use the Curse," Finn replied. "I can only promise that I won't make a toy of it." "Deal," she agreed. "Emergencies." When she touched the stump of his arm, the grass-demon began to shrink and shrivel until, moments later, he had his familiar arm again.

Rising, the big man dusted himself off–right-handed, in unconscious habit. Peihong was waiting out there, somewhere, with a stockpile of terrible weapons. If what Blargetha said was true, she had no means to deliver them. Yet. He needed to find the Bandit Princess before she figured out a way to deliver death to the people of Ooo.

Down on the street, a crowd had formed around the corpse of the beautiful opera singer. There were people in that crowd who had seen her perform. Others had seen her at the fabulous parties thrown by Chocago's wealthy. This was the cap on a night of terror. They'd all heard the gunfire and seen the carnage on TV. Now this. It seemed very much like the violence had somehow found its way _here_.

Several people there stared up at the window from which she'd fallen. There had been a figure there in the window, and many of the people assumed he was the murderer. How else to explain her missing hands? It was shocking in a neighborhood renowned for its beauty and sophistication. There should be no murders _here_ among the wealthy!

One face there stood strong in the face of the rising panic, wagging tongues, and pointed fingers. Fedir was more puzzled than anything. How had he lasted this long? Had he really survived his evil master? It seemed like an impossible dream. A part of him pitied the evil creature that lay there in a shattered heap in her underthings. A part of him found it ironic. She'd murdered many a man when they were vulnerable in their drawers. "Goodbye," he murmured, as he turned to go. He had a life still to live, and he aimed to get about living it.

**Whew! Patrick comes up aces. Chelsea the Wax-Hustler is dead. Fedir walks away a free man at last. And Maja is... bent. That was a pretty wild ride.**


	44. Epilogue

Epilogue:

"I never made it that far, Finn," Blargetha burbled. Having met her former captors, he was back to grilling her about what she knew. Which, as she'd repeatedly told him, was not much at all. Today, though, he seemed driven nearly to distraction by _something_. He'd come straight in and got right in her face. From there, he'd graduated to picking at her story from every angle he could see as if he was looking to see if she was maybe lieing. She'd expected that. She'd expected to be put to the question in the early going when she was brought back here to Bonnie's palace, and she was prepared with her answers. Honestly, it was pretty easy to answer because she _didn't_ know anything. And that was the thing. She wasn't upset at all by his badgering.

No, it was the pacing.

He was pacing, and it was driving her up the wall. Blowing out a breath, the slime-woman spat, "will you _quit_ that?! Do you have any idea how hard it is to solder these tiny circuits?!" The big man stopped in his tracks. Before he could say a word, his phone rang. Fishing the phone out of his pocket, he checked the ID of the caller, giving Blargetha a glimpse. It was her sister. With a sigh, he unlocked the phone and said, "hey, 'Letta... Uh, what's up...?" It was plain as the nose on his face that Hurletta was still trying to get in his pants. And he was still resisting. What was also plain was the fact that Finn was getting a little hot under the collar from whatever it was that the older sister was saying.

Indeed, Hurletta was playing with herself and giving Finn a blow-by-blow description, egging him on to come upstairs and find her. The big man was a little off from the nanobugs and their distressing tendencies to jack-up the hormones in his blood. At the same time, he was a little worried about 'Letta. She was love-bombing him every chance she got, and he feared there was something wrong there.

"Babe, I... Babe, I can't do that now," Finn told her. "I... I'm trying to find the Bandit Princess..." He was shaking his head now, and Blargetha thought Hurletta was turning on the water or something. "Nooo," Finn said! "No, 'Letta... It's not like that at all. I'm... She's out there with dozens of weapons..." Blargetha rolled her eyes. The idiot just didn't see. What was he supposed to do? Drop everything to attend to her every whim? The world was burning, and 'Letta wanted to screw. "Yeah," he said. "We'll talk when I get this sorted out. Yeah, I'll be safe. Bye..."

Blargetha was looking at him strangely when he hung up. It was only when he glanced down and realized he had a hard-on tenting his pants that he understood why. The big man turned away from her. "I need whatever you can tell me," he said. Blargetha replied, "I wouldn't think the King of Ooo would need to walk around with blue-balls..." His head whipped around. Standing up, the plush princess pursed her lips in a strange smile and said, "you could have anything... _anybody_ you wanted..." To his shock, Hurletta's spiteful sister climbed up on the table, displaying all Maja's gifts to him, and he found himself turning towards her, his eyes staring.

Laying back, Blargetha took his hands and put them on the hem of her dress. Licking those lush lips, she said, "you have all the power... power to do whatever you want... To _take_ what you want... Say it Finn... Say what you want me to do..." His mind went back to that moment in Hurletta's hotel room. He'd banged the slime-princess–and felt immediately guilty for it. He _did_ want to fuck 'Letta, but he also knew doing the bump-and-run wasn't right given all she'd been through, and he wasn't sure he could handle another lady in his life. He was tempted as fuck to go up to 'Letta's room, but he knew better.

And here was Blargetha–the proverbial younger sister–offering up the goods to her older sister's boyfriend.

His hands were trembling, but he couldn't help sliding the hem of her dress up. Inch by inch, he slid the dress up her legs, first past her ankles, revealing silk stockings. That really got to him. "Tell me what you want, King Finn," she breathed. Mouth dry, he said, "show me the goods... Show me those knobs." He knew this was wrong, but his pecker was in charge. For her part, Blargetha did just as he'd said. Reaching up behind her, she unzipped the back of her dress. Shrugging her shoulders, she caused her bodice to slide down, baring those awesome knobs. She was fucking amazing. Maja's _work_ was flawless. She and Hurletta were almost-twins, and they had bangin' fucking bodies. Reaching up with his left hand, he gave her big, right knocker a squeeze. She was firm but still a little squishy.

At the same time, his other hand continued sliding the hem of her dress upwards. Slowly but steadily, the skirt climbed her legs until it came at last to the top of her right stocking, giving him a glimpse of the silk panties she wore. Hurletta had taken to wearing sexy humanoid underthings like a fish to water, and apparently her sister had too. Finn's hands were shaking, and his mind screamed that this was wrong. It was wrong to do this to a woman he held as his prisoner, and it was wrong to do this to 'Letta's sister. At the same time, he knew that if he left here in his current state, he'd be going up to bang 'Letta herself, and he knew that was wrong too.

Interrupting his woolgathering, Blargetha egged him on, asking, "do you want me to strip, King, or do you want to take everything off yourself..." Finn shoved his hand between her plush thighs, cupping her snatch. Blargetha gasped as he began to slowly tease her hot snatch. She'd experimented with that both in the weeks she'd been Princess of her own kingdom and later when she'd been a captive. It didn't feel quite the same as when somebody else did it. Indeed, it was like Finn knew just how to touch.

With his other hand, the big man teased that heavy right titty. Like 'Letta's, she had three thick nips on each of her big, jiggly knockers. The big man teased and stroked and pinched the thick tips, causing them to stiffen, making them much firmer than the rest of her. Leaning down, he slurped one of the thick nubs on the right into his mouth and gave it a tug with his teeth, causing her to squeal. She and her sister were built like no woman he'd ever banged before. She was, in many ways, more alien than the Lamprey Princess.

Blargetha's hips began to wriggle about, and, eyes closed, she began to moan softly. Head wagging from side to side, biting her bottom lip, the genius forgot all about science in favor of something much more basic. Back arching, as Finn switched and began working over her left tit, Blargetha whined and whimpered in soft, high-pitched tones, her right hand grabbing at his. Just as he was starting to work his way around the three thick nips on her left titty, the evil princess squealed in pleasure at her first orgasm.

Finn stared at her, knowing that he'd maybe done something he shouldn't. At the same time, he felt... committed. Reaching up, he grabbed the waist of her panties and began sliding them down. The princess raised her lush bottom to let him, and he slid those big drawers off, stuffing them into a pocket for want of a better idea. Unzipping his pants, the big man took out his fat pecker, causing Blargetha to shiver. This was it. She'd been a little afraid of this. She'd done awful shit to her sister, and she'd been afraid of Hurletta returning the favor–of Hurletta having her raped and beaten and murdered. But she was desperate to save her own skin, and Finn wasn't likely to rape her.

Finn pressed that huge thing against her snatch without preamble, and Blargetha shrieked like a cat when he stuck her that first time. He was rough with her, and that was a strange turn on in itself. Roughly the big man claimed her, jamming his fat dick into her belly, as she clawed and clutched at his shoulders, screaming all the while. Riding her hard and fast, the big man found his own climax coming up quickly. He didn't give a fuck. This wasn't Simone. It wasn't Betty. It wasn't Bonnie or Phoebes. It was a cheap, throwaway fuck with a woman he halfway hated, and an ugly part of him didn't care if she got off or not, though strangely that didn't seem to be a problem. Blargetha had both arms and legs wrapped around him as if she was holding on for dear life. Driving in deep, the big man pumped his dick in twice and shot off like a hose as his halfway-girlfriend's evil sister screamed in his ear for him to breed her belly.

It was every kind of nasty, and the big man only realized how stupid and awful he'd behaved when he came to his senses. He was laying on top of Hurletta's evil sister, with Blargetha slowly grinding her body against his. He was ashamed. At the same time, a corner of his mind rationalized what he'd done. He loved 'Letta. He'd always loved Hurletta, and he always would. He wasn't sure where they were going, but he didn't want it to be some cheap thing where he fucked her for the fun of it and ran off. Now he could maybe go up and see her without being _hungry_.

Without a word, the big man hitched up his pants and got out of there, almost as if he'd forgotten why he came down. When he'd gone, Blargetha gathered her clothes on, muttering curses when she realized he'd taken her panties. She'd be walking back to her cell worried that people would see her leaving a trail. It had been her first time, and she'd been a little afraid of it. It had hurt a little, but now she reveled in it. She'd done it. Hurletta had been trying to seduce Finn, but _she_ had succeeded. Standing in front of the office window, she looked herself over in the reflection there. The ugly scar wasn't nearly as noticeable now. Finn had been too busy fucking her seemingly to care. Having gotten him to cross that line, Blargetha had but one question.

"Will it be an egg or a live birth," she murmured? Maja hadn't exactly explained the changes, and Blargetha herself had been far more interested in an army of humanoids rather than a race of them. An egg was problematic. It would be easier for Finn to dismiss an egg. A knocked-up humanoid woman was another story. Of course, the big, humanoid love-knobs Maja had fitted her with suggested it would be live birth. Eyes closed, she prayed, "please-please-please be a live baby..." She needed a child. Her life depended on it.

**Blargetha schemes to duck the noose. Finn sins. And we're now at the end of Pt2 of the cycle. I hope you will all join me for the final book of the saga. Starfall, Empire of Ooo Part 3 in which I do my OWN rendition of Finn's origin.**


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